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James and Lavinia Forrester FarmsteadJames and Lavinia Forrester Farmstead · Photo: Jim Roberts · CC BY-SA 4.0
C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Scipio Township

Scipio Township has 178 acres of parks, 35 for every 1,000 residents

The biggest trail networks: Luhr County Park (2.2 mi), Kesling Park (1.2 mi). 51% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 6.6 miles of mapped trail cross Scipio Township, 0.2 per square mile of land.

Ahead of 42% of U.S. towns · #252 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it

Conserved land
1%
151 acres · of 32.1 sq mi of land
Trails
6.6 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
178 ac
35 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
51%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.0 mi
1.0 mi paths
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Scipio Township have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Scipio Township is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns, #252 of 593 in Indiana. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.

C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Scipio Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical IN town 2% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (7 mi) · IN 0.1 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land35 acres of park per 1,000 residents (178 acres) · IN 10 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home51% of residents within a half mile of a park · IN 51% · U.S. 72%C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 42%
LessMore
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)Ahead of 58%

Few Indiana towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Scipio Township’s 1% is ahead of 35% of Indiana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 60% of them.

How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C 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.

1234
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 Luhr County Park, with 2.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Luhr County Park

Nature preserve
98 acres2.2 mi of trail
Trail 4Trail 2
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗

Kesling Park

Park
93 acres1.2 mi of trail
Kesling Park Nature Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Scipio Township Park

Park
7 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Soldiers Memorial Park

Park
4 acres0.3 mi of trail
LP - The NoodleLP Cambodia
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it

151 conserved acres

1% of Scipio Township’s land. Who manages Scipio Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

County143 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)8 ac
State Recreation Area · 76 acLocal Park · 68 acConservation Easement · 8 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 8 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Kesling Outdoor Recreation Center
State Recreation Area
County76Open
Luhr Park
Local Park
County68Open
Things to do

14 places to go in Scipio Township

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Playgrounds in Scipio Township
Fort LaPlayPorteIn Kesling Park
Directions

Plus 8 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.

Trails & water

5 named trails

Named trails
Open to bikes · 1.4 miUnpaved · 3.3 mi
Kesling Park Nature Trail0.9 mi
Trail 40.7 mi
Trail 20.3 mi
LP - The Noodle0.2 mi
LP Cambodia0.1 mi
Biking & sports

1.0 miles of bike routes

Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.

1.0 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
23Tennis
6Tracks
5Baseball
5Soccer
4Equestrian
4Basketball
3Softball
1Beach volleyball

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

2 places on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 2 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.

History →
James and Lavinia Forrester FarmsteadBuilding · listed 2017
About it
When to get out

The best walking months in Scipio 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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.510.511.813.314.515.214.913.812.411.09.89.2
High (°F)323547597180838175634836
Rain (in)2.42.12.43.64.34.44.14.23.33.72.82.4

February is the driest month (2.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.4 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Scipio Township →

Next door

Scipio Township and its neighbors

Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Center Township18 miWashington Township14 miScipio Township6.6 miNew Durham Township4.8 miNoble Township4.8 miPleasant Township2.4 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Scipio Township1%0.23551%C+
New Durham Township1%0.1919%C−
Center Township2%0.61969%B
Washington Township24%0.5314%B−
Noble Township1%0.21926%C
Pleasant Township1%0.1238%C−

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in Scipio Township

Where can I hike in Scipio Township?

The longest trail networks: Luhr County Park, 2.2 miles; Kesling Park, 1.2 miles; Scipio Township Park, 0.4 miles; Soldiers Memorial Park, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Scipio Township is conserved land?

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.

Are dogs allowed on Scipio Township’s trails?

Luhr County Park and Kesling Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Where can I bike in Scipio Township?

1.0 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.0 of off-road paths.

Is there public land near Scipio Township?

4,648 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Scipio Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 178 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does Scipio Township have?

Ahead of 42% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #252 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 Scipio Township neighbors.

Town Square →
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 →