Columbia Mine Preserve
Managed by Sycamore Land Trust
550 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Chris Flook · CC BY-SA 4.0B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Patoka Township
30% of Patoka Township’s land is conserved: 8,051 acres
242 acres are parks and preserves, 86 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Columbia Mine Preserve (0.7 mi). 4% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 55% of U.S. towns · #162 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Conserved land
30%
8,051 acres · of 42.6 sq mi of land
Trails
2.9 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
242 ac
86 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
4%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
564 ft
Turkey Hill
Lakes & rivers
9
What kind of outdoors town is Patoka Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Patoka Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Patoka Township is ahead of 55% of U.S. towns, #162 of 593 in Indiana. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Patoka Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land30% of the land · typical IN town 2% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (3 mi) · IN 0.1 · U.S. 0.4CPark land86 acres of park per 1,000 residents (242 acres) · IN 10 · U.S. 13AParks close to home4% of residents within a half mile of a park · IN 51% · U.S. 72%D
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 55%
LessMore
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)Ahead of 73%
Few Indiana towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Patoka Township’s 30% is ahead of 99% of Indiana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 36% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C to A−. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
The map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Columbia Mine Preserve, with 0.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge and Management Area
Managed by United States Fish and Wildlife Service
1,473 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Pike State Forest
Managed by Indiana Department of Natural Resources
171 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
8,051 conserved acres
30% of Patoka Township’s land. Who manages Patoka Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service6,362 ac
State fish & wildlife3,215 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits698 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)483 ac
State natural resources244 ac
National Wildlife Refuge · 5,816 acState Conservation Area · 3,459 acConservation Easement · 1,029 acPrivate Conservation · 698 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 996 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuge | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 5,816 | Restricted |
| Sugar Ridge Fish And Wildlife Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 3,215 | Restricted |
| Patoka River Nwr Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 698 | Closed |
| Pike State Forest State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 228 | Open |
| Ferdinand State Forest State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 16 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Patoka Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Peaks in Patoka Township
Turkey Hill564 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
9 lakes & rivers
Biking & sports
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Courts & fields
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The walking year in Patoka 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) | 9.8 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.2 | 14.8 | 14.6 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| High (°F) | 40 | 45 | 55 | 67 | 77 | 85 | 87 | 86 | 81 | 69 | 55 | 44 |
| Rain (in) | 3.5 | 3.0 | 4.2 | 5.0 | 5.4 | 4.7 | 4.3 | 3.2 | 3.7 | 3.4 | 4.0 | 3.8 |
February is the driest month (3.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 5.4 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Patoka Township →
Next door
Patoka Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Monroe Township31 miWashington Township10 miMarion Township9.5 miPatoka Township2.9 miLogan Township2.1 miColumbia Township1.8 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patoka Township | 30% | 0.1 | 86 | 4% | B− |
| Logan Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Monroe Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Washington Township | 1% | 0.2 | 10 | 5% | C− |
| Columbia Township | 14% | 0.1 | 46 | 16% | B− |
| Marion Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Patoka Township
Where can I hike in Patoka Township?
The longest trail networks: Columbia Mine Preserve, 0.7 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Patoka Township is conserved land?
30% 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 Patoka Township’s trails?
Columbia Mine Preserve and Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge and Management Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Patoka Township?
5,001 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Patoka Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 242 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Patoka Township have?
Ahead of 55% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #162 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 Patoka Township neighbors.
Share a tip
Sources
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 →