Polk Township District No. 2 School · Photo: V locity · CC BY-SA 3.0Few parks or trails are on the map in Polk Township
9% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 1.6 miles of mapped trail cross Polk Township. 8 acres are parks and preserves, 3.1 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 9% of U.S. towns · #517 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
How much outdoors does Polk Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Polk Township is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns, #517 of 593 in Indiana. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; park acres per resident come closest.
Few Indiana towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Polk Township’s under 1% is ahead of 27% of Indiana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 28% 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.
119 conserved acres
under 1% of Polk Township’s land. Who manages Polk Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 99 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ecker Wetland Conservation Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 15 | Restricted |
| Koontz Lake Public Access Site State Recreation Area | State fish & wildlife | 5 | Open |
1.1 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.
1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
The best walking months in Polk Township: April and September
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) | 9.5 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 32 | 36 | 47 | 60 | 71 | 80 | 83 | 81 | 76 | 63 | 48 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.7 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 2.9 | 2.5 |
February is the driest month (2.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.3 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Polk Township →
Polk 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polk Township | under 1% | under 0.1 | 3 | 9% | D |
| West Township | 1% | under 0.1 | 25 | 21% | C− |
| Lincoln Township | 4% | 0.1 | 121 | 69% | B |
| Liberty Township | 18% | 0.7 | 1,119 | 45% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Polk Township
How much of Polk 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.
Where can I bike in Polk Township?
1.1 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.1 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Polk Township?
4,943 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Polk Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 8 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Polk Township have?
Ahead of 9% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #517 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 Polk 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 →