Derksen Farm & Wetlands
Nature preserve
30 acres1.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Union Township
Union Township has 232 acres of parks, 37 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Derksen Farm & Wetlands (1.6 mi). 54% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 8.4 miles of mapped trail cross Union Township, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 46% of U.S. towns · #223 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
229 acres · of 35.9 sq mi of land
Trails
8.4 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
232 ac
37 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
54%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
9.0 mi
4.9 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Union Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Union Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Union Township is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns, #223 of 593 in Indiana. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Union 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 (8 mi) · IN 0.1 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land37 acres of park per 1,000 residents (232 acres) · IN 10 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home54% 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 46%
LessMore
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)Ahead of 62%
Few Indiana towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Union Township’s 1% is ahead of 40% of Indiana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 64% 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.
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 Derksen Farm & Wetlands, with 1.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Recovery Park
Park
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
229 conserved acres
1% of Union Township’s land. Who manages Union Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city229 ac
Local Park · 176 acState Recreation Area · 53 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nappanee Golf Course and Park Local Park | Town or city | 157 | Open |
| Robert W. Callander Sportsplex State Recreation Area | Town or city | 53 | Open |
| John Derksen (Stauffer) Park Local Park | Town or city | 16 | Open |
| Recovery Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
Things to do
8 places to go in Union Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Union Township
Nappanee Community PoolIn Stauffer Park
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Union Township
Church Playground
DirectionsLittle PawsIn Stauffer Park
DirectionsPlus 4 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Union Township
Nappanee Dog Park
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 1.9 mi
County Road 540.9 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
9.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
4.9 mi
off-road bike paths
4.1 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
15Tennis
9Baseball
8Basketball
6Soccer
3Tracks
2Pickleball
1Beach volleyball
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Union 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.
| 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 | 47 | 60 | 71 | 80 | 83 | 81 | 75 | 63 | 48 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.5 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 4.0 | 3.9 | 3.2 | 3.3 | 2.9 | 2.5 |
February is the driest month (2.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.3 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Union Township →
Next door
Union Township and its neighbors
Union Township has the second most mapped trails of the 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Union Township | 1% | 0.2 | 37 | 54% | B− |
| Jackson Township | 1% | 0.2 | 31 | 34% | C+ |
| Locke Township | under 1% | 0.1 | 6 | 70% | C− |
| Harrison Township | under 1% | under 0.1 | under 1 | under 1% | D− |
| Nappanee | 8% | 1.9 | 36 | 94% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Union Township
Where can I hike in Union Township?
The longest trail networks: Derksen Farm & Wetlands, 1.6 miles; Stauffer Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Union 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 Union Township’s trails?
Derksen Farm & Wetlands and Stauffer Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Union Township?
9.0 miles of bike routes are on the map: 4.9 of off-road paths and 4.1 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Union Township?
1,677 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Union Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 232 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Union Township have?
Ahead of 46% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #223 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 Union Township 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 →