Hoosier Prairie State Nature Preserve
Managed by Indiana Department of Natural Resources
308 acres0.7 mi of trail
Prairie Marsh TrailSavanna TrailAccessible Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: JoeyBLS · Public domainB+Outdoors
Outdoors in Schererville
10% of Schererville’s land is conserved, and 95% of residents live within a half mile of a park
10% of Schererville’s land is conserved, about 961 acres. The biggest trail networks: Hoosier Prairie State Nature Preserve (0.7 mi). 2.7 miles of mapped trail cross Schererville, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 68% of U.S. towns · #87 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Conserved land
10%
961 acres · of 15.1 sq mi of land
Trails
2.7 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
328 ac
11 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
95%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
10 mi
10 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
What kind of outdoors town is Schererville?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Schererville have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Schererville is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns, #87 of 593 in Indiana. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Schererville’s overall grade.
Conserved land10% of the land · typical IN town 2% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (3 mi) · IN 0.1 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land11 acres of park per 1,000 residents (328 acres) · IN 10 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to home95% of residents within a half mile of a park · IN 51% · U.S. 72%A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 68%
LessMore
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)Ahead of 85%
Few Indiana towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Schererville’s 10% is ahead of 92% of Indiana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 56% 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 Hoosier Prairie State Nature Preserve, with 0.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Teibel Nature Preserve
Nature preserve
84 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Ivan Gatlin Nature Preserve
Nature preserve
38 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 12 parks & preserves
Hoosier Prairie State Nature Preserve308 acres · 0.7 mi of trail · Indiana Department of Natural Resources
DirectionsTeibel Nature Preserve84 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Ivan Gatlin Nature Preserve38 acres
Stephen Park18 acres
DirectionsScherwood Greens Park11 acres
DirectionsPeter G. Redar Park9 acres
Plum Creek Park9 acres
Beidron Park6 acres
Beaver Dam Park2 acres
Foxwood Park2 acres
Elmridge Park1 acres
Schererville Skate Park1 acres
Who protects it
961 conserved acres
10% of Schererville’s land. Who manages Schererville’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources379 ac
Town or city278 ac
Private owners216 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits50 ac
County39 ac
National Park Service1 ac
State Conservation Area · 379 acLocal Park · 316 acPrivate Park · 216 acConservation Easement · 50 acNational Park · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 50 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 35 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scherwood Country Club Private Park | Private owners | 171 | Open |
| Hoosier Prairie - Buckeye Pipeline Tract State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 147 | Restricted |
| Hoosier Prairie Nature Preserve State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 117 | Restricted |
| Hoosier Prairie - Martha Collins - Hart Tract State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 81 | Restricted |
| Teibel Nature Preserve Local Park | Town or city | 56 | Open |
| Rohrman Park Local Park | Town or city | 55 | Open |
| Prairie Estate Park Local Park | County | 39 | Open |
| Erie Lackawanna Trail Local Park | Town or city | 38 | Open |
| Hoosier Prairie - IDNL Transfer Tract State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 28 | Restricted |
| Pennsy Greenway Trail Local Park | Town or city | 28 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
6 places to go in Schererville
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Schererville
5 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Schererville
Perry Ferrini Dog Park
DirectionsTrails & water
3 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Prairie Marsh Trail0.3 mi
Savanna Trail0.3 mi
Accessible Trail0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
10 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
10 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
12Baseball
7Tennis
5Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Schererville: 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 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 32 | 36 | 48 | 60 | 71 | 81 | 84 | 82 | 76 | 64 | 49 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.3 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 2.8 | 2.2 |
February is the driest month (2.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.4 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Schererville →
Next door
Schererville 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schererville | 10% | 0.2 | 11 | 95% | B+ |
| Dyer | 11% | 1.6 | 12 | 99% | A |
| Griffith | 15% | 0.6 | 37 | 95% | A |
| St. John | 1% | under 0.1 | 4 | 65% | C− |
| St. John Township | 7% | 0.4 | 14 | 86% | B+ |
| Calumet Township | 9% | 0.8 | 34 | 91% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Schererville
Where can I hike in Schererville?
The longest trail networks: Hoosier Prairie State Nature Preserve, 0.7 miles; Teibel Nature Preserve, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Schererville is conserved land?
10% 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 Schererville’s trails?
Hoosier Prairie State Nature Preserve and Teibel Nature Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Schererville?
10 miles of bike routes are on the map: 10 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Schererville?
11,537 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Schererville or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 328 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Schererville have?
Ahead of 68% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #87 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 Schererville 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 →