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Helton-Mayo FarmHelton-Mayo Farm · Photo: Nyttend · Public domain
COutdoors
Outdoors in Shawswick Township

Shawswick Township has 267 acres of parks, 13 for every 1,000 residents

The biggest trail networks: Otis Park (4.7 mi). 10 miles of mapped trail cross Shawswick Township, 0.1 per square mile of land. 49% of residents live within a half mile of a park.

Ahead of 31% of U.S. towns · #324 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it

Conserved land
1%
290 acres · of 69.5 sq mi of land
Trails
10 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
267 ac
13 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
49%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
5.0 mi
5.0 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
2 boat launches

What kind of outdoors town is Shawswick Township?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Shawswick Township have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Shawswick Township is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns, #324 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 Shawswick Township’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 31%
LessMore
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)Ahead of 45%

Few Indiana towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Shawswick Township’s 1% is ahead of 35% of Indiana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 52% of them.

How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C to C+. 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 Otis Park, with 4.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Otis Park

Park
165 acres4.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Murray Forest Park

Park
28 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Wilson Park

Park
24 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Dickinson Park

Park
23 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 11 parks & preserves
Otis Park165 acres · 4.7 mi of trail
Directions
Thornton Park8 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Directions
Wilson Park24 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Directions
Murray Forest Park28 acres
Directions
Dickinson Park23 acres
Directions
Murray Forest Park Softball fields7 acres
Directions
Free Methodist Park7 acres
Directions
Otis park rec area4 acres
Bedford Community Garden3 acres
Directions
Edgewood Park2 acres
Directions
T Street Park1 acres
Directions
Who protects it

290 conserved acres

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

USDA easements (NRCS)227 ac
Town or city62 ac
Conservation Easement · 227 acLocal Park · 62 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 227 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Wilson Park
Local Park
Town or city23Open
Otis Park
Local Park
Town or city14Open
Murrsy Park
Local Park
Town or city10Open
Thornton Park
Local Park
Town or city9Open
Brookside Park
Local Park
Town or city4Open
Edgewood Park
Local Park
Town or city2Open
Things to do

28 places to go in Shawswick Township

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

Playgrounds in Shawswick Township
Free Methodist Play Ground
Directions
Hamilton Cts Playground
Directions
Stalker PlaygroundIn Murray Forest Park
Directions

Plus 21 playgrounds without a name on the map.

Trails & water

1 named trail and 1 lakes & rivers

Named trails
Open to bikes · 1.2 miUnpaved · 2.0 mi
Old Railroad bed quad, running, hiking (preliminary)1.2 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports

5.0 miles of bike routes

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

5.0 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
13Tennis
10Baseball
6Pickleball
3Softball
3Basketball
2Football
1Soccer

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

History along the way

11 places on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 4 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.

History →
Helton-Mayo FarmDistrict · listed 1995
About it
When to get out

The best walking months in Shawswick 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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.710.711.813.214.314.914.613.712.411.110.09.5
High (°F)394454667583868579685443
Rain (in)3.62.94.15.25.55.14.23.63.53.43.93.6

February is the driest month (2.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 86 °F). 5.5 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Shawswick Township →

Next door

Shawswick Township and its neighbors

Tap a town to see its outdoors.

TownConserved
of land
Trail mi
per sq mi
Park acres
per 1,000
Near a park
½ mile
Outdoors
Shawswick Township1%0.11349%C
Guthrie Township1%0.2under 1under 1%D
Indian Creek Township1%0.14411%C
Marion Township3%0.215844%B
Marshall Townshipunder 1%0.187%D
Pleasant Run Township19%0.4under 1under 1%C

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

Questions about parks and trails in Shawswick Township

Where can I hike in Shawswick Township?

The longest trail networks: Otis Park, 4.7 miles; Wilson Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Shawswick 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 Shawswick Township’s trails?

Otis Park and Murray Forest Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Where can I bike in Shawswick Township?

5.0 miles of bike routes are on the map: 5.0 of off-road paths.

Is there public land near Shawswick Township?

40,932 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Shawswick Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 267 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does Shawswick Township have?

Ahead of 31% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #324 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 Shawswick 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 →