Photo: Quentin Melson · CC BY-SA 4.0Few parks or trails are on the map in Orleans Township
3 acres are parks and preserves, 0.7 per 1,000 residents. 1.5 miles of mapped trail cross Orleans Township. 47% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 10% of U.S. towns · #512 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Orleans Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Orleans Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Orleans Township is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns, #512 of 593 in Indiana. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park comes closest.
Few Indiana towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Orleans Township’s under 1% is ahead of 7% of Indiana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 30% of them.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Congress Square, with 0.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Hoosier National Forest
2 conserved acres
under 1% of Orleans Township’s land. Who manages Orleans Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hoosier National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 2 | Open |
8 places to go in Orleans Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Plus 6 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
1 lakes & rivers
1.2 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
August is the best month for walking in Orleans Township
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 9.7 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 14.9 | 14.6 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| High (°F) | 40 | 45 | 55 | 66 | 75 | 83 | 86 | 86 | 80 | 68 | 55 | 44 |
| Rain (in) | 3.6 | 3.1 | 4.3 | 5.3 | 5.5 | 5.0 | 4.3 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 3.7 |
February is the driest month (3.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 86 °F). 5.5 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 86 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Orleans Township →
Orleans Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orleans Township | under 1% | under 0.1 | 1 | 47% | D |
| Paoli Township | 7% | 0.1 | 6 | 31% | C |
| Orangeville Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Marion Township | 3% | 0.2 | 158 | 44% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Orleans Township
Where can I hike in Orleans Township?
The longest trail networks: Congress Square, 0.3 miles; Sulphur Well Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Orleans Township is conserved land?
under 1% of its land, against a typical 2% for an Indiana town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Orleans Township’s trails?
Congress Square and Hoosier National Forest don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Orleans Township?
1.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.2 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Orleans Township?
37,235 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Orleans Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 4 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Orleans Township have?
Ahead of 10% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #512 of 593 in Indiana. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Orleans Township neighbors.
Where this page comes from
Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →