Photo: NASA · Public domainFew parks or trails are on the map in Simonton Lake
4 acres are parks and preserves, 1.0 per 1,000 residents. 63% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 11% of U.S. towns · #494 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
How much outdoors does Simonton Lake have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Simonton Lake is ahead of 11% of U.S. towns, #494 of 593 in Indiana. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
Few Indiana towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Simonton Lake’s under 1% is ahead of 17% of Indiana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 6% of them.
Water is 12% of Simonton Lake’s area (0 of 4 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read under 1%.
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.
3 conserved acres
under 1% of Simonton Lake’s land. Water is left out: Simonton Lake has 3.4 square miles of land and 0.5 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Simonton Lake’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elkhart Campground Park Local Park | County | 2 | Open |
| Simonton Lake Public Access State Recreation Area | State fish & wildlife | 1 | Open |
2 places to go in Simonton Lake
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
1 lakes & rivers
0.0 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.
The best walking months in Simonton Lake: 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 | 35 | 46 | 59 | 71 | 80 | 83 | 81 | 75 | 62 | 48 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.6 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 3.6 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.4 | 3.6 | 2.9 | 2.5 |
February is the driest month (2.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.2 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Simonton Lake →
Simonton Lake 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simonton Lake | under 1% | under 0.1 | 1 | 63% | D |
| Elkhart | 3% | 0.2 | 9 | 70% | C+ |
| Osolo Township | 2% | 0.1 | 9 | 47% | C |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Simonton Lake
How much of Simonton Lake 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.
Is there public land near Simonton Lake?
2,338 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Simonton Lake or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 4 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Simonton Lake have?
Ahead of 11% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #494 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 Simonton Lake 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 →