Hoosier National Forest
Managed by United States Forest Service
7,678 acres23.3 mi of trail
Hickory Ridge Trail 2Hickory Ridge Horse Trail 90Hickory Ridge Trail 3Hickory Ridge Trail 4+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: Nyttend · Public domainCOutdoors
Outdoors in Pleasant Run Township
19% of Pleasant Run Township’s land is conserved: 7,771 acres
The biggest trail networks: Hoosier National Forest (23.3 mi). 26 miles of mapped trail cross Pleasant Run Township, 0.4 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 30% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
19%
7,771 acres · of 64.8 sq mi of land
Trails
26 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Near a park
under 1%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
5
What kind of outdoors town is Pleasant Run Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Pleasant Run Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Pleasant Run Township is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Pleasant Run Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land19% of the land · typical IN town 2% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (26 mi) · IN 0.1 · U.S. 0.4BPark land0.0 acres of park per 1,000 residents (0 acres) · IN 10 · U.S. 13DParks close to home0% 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 30%
LessMore
Few Indiana towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Pleasant Run Township’s 19% is ahead of 97% of Indiana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 76% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B−. 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 Hoosier National Forest, with 23.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Laura Hare Nature Preserve at Back Creek
Nature preserve
39 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Charles C. Deam Wilderness
Managed by United States Forest Service
12 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
7,771 conserved acres
19% of Pleasant Run Township’s land. Who manages Pleasant Run Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Forest Service7,715 ac
Joint37 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)18 ac
National Forest · 7,715 acConservation Easement · 55 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 55 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hoosier National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 7,715 | Open |
Things to do
11 places to go in Pleasant Run Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Pleasant Run Township
Pleasant Run Park Playground
DirectionsPlus 1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Picnic areas in Pleasant Run Township
1 picnic area without a name on the map.
Campgrounds in Pleasant Run Township
Harden's Horse Camp
DirectionsHickory Ridge Horse CampIn Hoosier National Forest
DirectionsMidwest Trail Ride RV Horse Campground
DirectionsStone Creek Campground & Trails
DirectionsPlus 4 campgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
16 named trails and 5 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 18.3 miHorses · 23.3 miUnpaved · 6.5 mi
Hickory Ridge Trail 26.1 mi
Hickory Ridge Horse Trail 902.0 mi
Hickory Ridge Trail 31.6 mi
Hickory Ridge Trail 41.5 mi
Hickory Ridge Horse Trail 801.4 mi
Hickory Ridge Trail 61.3 mi
Hickory Ridge Trail 121.2 mi
Hickory Ridge Trail 91.1 mi
Hickory Ridge Trail 11.1 mi
Hickory Ridge Trail 111.1 mi
6 more trails
Hickory Ridge Horse Trail 90 C
1.0 miHickory Ridge Trail 8
0.8 miHickory Ridge Trail 10
0.8 miHickory Ridge Horse Trail 90 B
0.7 miHickory Ridge Trail 5
0.7 miHickory Ridge Trail 7
0.7 miLakes & rivers tap for directions
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
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Pleasant Run Township: July and August
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 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 38 | 43 | 53 | 65 | 74 | 82 | 85 | 84 | 79 | 67 | 53 | 42 |
| Rain (in) | 3.6 | 2.9 | 4.1 | 5.2 | 5.4 | 5.1 | 4.3 | 3.7 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 3.6 |
February is the driest month (2.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 5.4 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Pleasant Run Township →
Next door
Pleasant Run Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Polk Township53 miSalt Creek Township36 miPleasant Run Township26 miShawswick Township10 miGuthrie Township6.5 miMarshall Township2.4 miOwen Township0.3 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pleasant Run Township | 19% | 0.4 | under 1 | under 1% | C |
| Owen Township | 1% | under 0.1 | under 1 | under 1% | D− |
| Shawswick Township | 1% | 0.1 | 13 | 49% | C |
| Guthrie Township | 1% | 0.2 | under 1 | under 1% | D |
| Polk Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Marshall Township | under 1% | 0.1 | 8 | 7% | D |
| Salt Creek 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 Pleasant Run Township
Where can I hike in Pleasant Run Township?
The longest trail networks: Hoosier National Forest, 23.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Pleasant Run Township is conserved land?
19% 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 Pleasant Run Township’s trails?
Hoosier National Forest and Laura Hare Nature Preserve at Back Creek don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Pleasant Run Township?
75,521 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Pleasant Run Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 7,596 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Pleasant Run Township have?
Ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 Pleasant Run 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 →