Nelson Park
Park
4 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Trail Creek
5% of Trail Creek’s land is conserved, and 97% of residents live within a half mile of a park
5% of Trail Creek’s land is conserved, about 42 acres. 43 acres are parks and preserves, 18 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 54% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
42 acres · of 1.2 sq mi of land
Trails
0.0 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
43 ac
18 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
97%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Trail Creek?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Trail Creek have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Trail Creek is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Trail Creek’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical IN town 2% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · IN 0.1 · U.S. 0.4DPark land18 acres of park per 1,000 residents (43 acres) · IN 10 · U.S. 13BParks close to home97% 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 54%
LessMore
Few Indiana towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Trail Creek’s 5% is ahead of 81% of Indiana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 6% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
42 conserved acres
5% of Trail Creek’s land. Who manages Trail Creek’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State fish & wildlife33 ac
Town or city9 ac
State Recreation Area · 33 acLocal Park · 9 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trail Creek Public Fishing Area State Recreation Area | State fish & wildlife | 33 | Open |
| Nelson Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Unknown Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
Biking & sports
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Courts & fields
4Baseball
2Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Trail Creek: 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 | 59 | 70 | 79 | 83 | 81 | 75 | 63 | 49 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.4 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 3.5 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 3.9 | 4.1 | 3.4 | 3.6 | 2.7 | 2.4 |
February is the driest month (2.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.2 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Trail Creek →
Next door
Trail Creek and its neighbors
Trail Creek has the second most mapped trails of the 2 towns around it. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trail Creek | 5% | under 0.1 | 18 | 97% | B− |
| Michigan City | 5% | 0.6 | 22 | 89% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Trail Creek
How much of Trail Creek 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 Trail Creek’s trails?
Nelson Park and Congdon Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Trail Creek?
8,217 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Trail Creek or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 43 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Trail Creek have?
Ahead of 54% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 Trail Creek 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 →