Rum Village Park
Managed by South Bend Venue Parks & Arts
159 acres2.9 mi of trail
Indian TrailSpicebrush TrailIronwood TrailRed Oak Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
University of Notre Dame: Main and South Quadrangles · Photo: Michael Fernandes · CC BY-SA 3.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Portage Township
Portage Township has 27 miles of mapped trails, 0.8 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: Rum Village Park (2.9 mi), Potawatomi Park (1.1 mi), Southeast Park (0.5 mi). 87% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 5% of Portage Township’s land is conserved, about 1,178 acres.
Ahead of 71% of U.S. towns · #74 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
1,178 acres · of 34.3 sq mi of land
Trails
27 mi
0.8 per sq mi of land
Park land
971 ac
10 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
87%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
81 mi
23 mi lanes · 29 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
9
2 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Portage Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Portage Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Portage Township is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns, #74 of 593 in Indiana. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Portage Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical IN town 2% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.8 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (27 mi) · IN 0.1 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land10 acres of park per 1,000 residents (971 acres) · IN 10 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to home87% of residents within a half mile of a park · IN 51% · U.S. 72%B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 71%
LessMore
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)Ahead of 88%
Few Indiana towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Portage Township’s 5% is ahead of 82% of Indiana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 91% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B 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 Rum Village Park, with 2.9 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Southeast Park
Park
11 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Jon Hunt Memorial Plaza
Park
1 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 41 parks & preserves
Rum Village Park159 acres · 2.9 mi of trail · South Bend Venue Parks & Arts
DirectionsPotawatomi Park29 acres · 1.1 mi of trail
DirectionsSoutheast Park11 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
DirectionsLaSalle Park42 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
DirectionsLeeper Park30 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
DirectionsFredrickson Park13 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
DirectionsPulaski Park7 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
DirectionsJon Hunt Memorial Plaza1 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
DirectionsPinhook Park26 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsVoorde Park17 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsKeller Park12 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsVeteran's Memorial Park16 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsO'Brien Park13 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsCharles B. Hayes Sculpture Park7 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · University of Notre Dame
DirectionsOur Lady of the Lake World Peace Plaza1 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · University of Notre Dame
DirectionsPhillip St. Clair Park47 acres
DirectionsKennedy Park37 acres
DirectionsMuessel Grove Park17 acres
DirectionsHoward Park13 acres
DirectionsEdison Park12 acres
DirectionsWoodlawn Park11 acres
DirectionsKaiser Park11 acres
DirectionsWalker Field Park9 acres
DirectionsCoquillard Park9 acres
DirectionsGovernor Joe Kernan Park6 acres
DirectionsMartin Luther King, Jr. Dream Center5 acres
DirectionsPlaza Park5 acres
DirectionsEast Race5 acres
DirectionsBrownfield Park3 acres
DirectionsRavina Park3 acres
DirectionsSeitz Park2 acres
DirectionsFremont Park2 acres
DirectionsRandolph Park2 acres
DirectionsNokomis Park2 acres
Westhaven Park2 acres
DirectionsParkovash Park1 acres
DirectionsRyer Mini Park1 acres
Kelly Park1 acres
DirectionsHelmen Park1 acres
DirectionsGwen Stiver Park1 acres
DirectionsIsland Park1 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
1,178 conserved acres
5% of Portage Township’s land. Who manages Portage Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city882 ac
Private owners250 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)35 ac
County22 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits1 ac
Local Park · 762 acPrivate Park · 239 acState Recreation Area · 146 acConservation Easement · 35 acLocal Recreation Area · 8 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 35 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rum Village Park Local Park | Town or city | 158 | Open |
| Morris Park Country Club Private Park | Private owners | 158 | Open |
| Erskine Golf Course State Recreation Area | Town or city | 111 | Open |
| University of Notre Dame Golf Course Private Park | Private owners | 81 | Open |
| Potawatomi Park Local Park | Town or city | 58 | Open |
| Kennedy Park Local Park | Town or city | 44 | Open |
| Bellville Gardens Local Park | Town or city | 44 | Open |
| Pinhook Park Local Park | Town or city | 43 | Open |
| LaSalle Park Local Park | Town or city | 43 | Open |
| Rum Village Annex Local Park | Town or city | 40 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
74 places to go in Portage Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Portage Township
Edison Park PlaygroundIn Edison Park
DirectionsKid's KingdomIn Potawatomi Park
Directions62 playgrounds are on OpenStreetMap in all; the list shows named ones from the first 30.
Dog parks in Portage Township
3 dog parks without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Portage Township
2 boat launches without a name on the map.
Scenic views in Portage Township
1 scenic view without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Picnic areas in Portage Township
4 picnic areas without a name on the map.
Community gardens in Portage Township
2 community gardens without a name on the map.
Trails & water
9 named trails and 9 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 6.3 miUnpaved · 9.3 mi
Rum Village mountain bike trail4.7 mi
Indian Trail1.0 mi
Spicebrush Trail0.3 mi
Ironwood Trail0.2 mi
Red Oak Trail0.2 mi
Shagbark Trail0.2 mi
Hillside Trail0.1 mi
Hidden Trail0.1 mi
Old Tree Trail0.1 mi
Biking & sports
81 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
23 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
29 mi
off-road bike paths
29 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
76Tennis
45Baseball
28Basketball
20Soccer
12Football
3Beach volleyball
1Pickleball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →78 places on the National Register, one a National Historic Landmark
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 8 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
University of Notre Dame: Main and South QuadranglesDistrict · listed 1978
About it66 more on the History page.
When to get out
The best walking months in Portage Township: April, July 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 | 10.5 | 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 | 75 | 63 | 48 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.7 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 3.6 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 3.5 | 3.7 | 2.9 | 2.5 |
February is the driest month (2.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.2 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Portage Township →
Next door
Portage Township and its neighbors
Portage Township has the second most mapped trails of the 8 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
South Bend28 miPortage Township27 miClay Township13 miPenn Township13 miMishawaka12 miGerman Township8.8 miWarren Township4.8 miCentre Township2.0 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portage Township | 5% | 0.8 | 10 | 87% | B+ |
| Centre Township | 2% | 0.1 | 12 | 51% | C |
| German Township | 3% | 0.5 | 34 | 48% | B |
| Clay Township | 8% | 0.6 | 19 | 45% | B+ |
| South Bend | 6% | 0.7 | 15 | 84% | B+ |
| Penn Township | 2% | 0.2 | 10 | 69% | C+ |
| Mishawaka | 4% | 0.6 | 8 | 82% | B |
| Warren Township | 3% | 0.1 | 43 | 27% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Portage Township
Where can I hike in Portage Township?
The longest trail networks: Rum Village Park, 2.9 miles; Potawatomi Park, 1.1 miles; Southeast Park, 0.5 miles; LaSalle Park, 0.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Portage Township is conserved land?
5% 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 Portage Township’s trails?
Rum Village Park and Potawatomi Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Portage Township?
81 miles of bike routes are on the map: 23 of painted or protected lanes, 29 of off-road paths and 29 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Portage Township?
7,892 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Portage Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 971 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Portage Township have?
Ahead of 71% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #74 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 Portage 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 →