Raccoon State Recreation Area
Managed by Indiana Department of Natural Resources
592 acres5.3 mi of trail
Trail 1Trail 4/Canyon TrailTrail 3Trail 6/Archery Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
BOutdoors
Outdoors in Union Township
19% of Union Township’s land is conserved: 3,861 acres
111 acres are parks and preserves, 69 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Raccoon State Recreation Area (5.3 mi). 8% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 59% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
19%
3,861 acres · of 32.7 sq mi of land
Trails
5.9 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
111 ac
69 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
8%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.8 mi
0.8 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
3
1 beach · 5 boat launches
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 59% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Union Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land19% of the land · typical IN town 2% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (6 mi) · IN 0.1 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land69 acres of park per 1,000 residents (111 acres) · IN 10 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home8% of residents within a half mile of a park · IN 51% · U.S. 72%D
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 59%
LessMore
Few Indiana towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Union Township’s 19% is ahead of 97% of Indiana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 56% of them.
Water is 9% of Union Township’s area (3 of 36 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 17%.
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
The longest trail network is Raccoon State Recreation Area, with 5.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Lake Park
Park
5 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
3,861 conserved acres
19% of Union Township’s land. Water is left out: Union Township has 32.7 square miles of land and 3.1 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Union Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Army Corps of Engineers3,689 ac
State parks196 ac
Private owners67 ac
Recreation Management Area · 3,689 acState Recreation Area · 196 acPrivate Park · 67 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cecil M. Harden Recreation Area Recreation Management Area | Army Corps of Engineers | 3,689 | Open |
| Raccoon Lake State Recreation Area State Recreation Area | State parks | 196 | Open |
| Raccoon Lake Golf Course Private Park | Private owners | 67 | Open |
Things to do
12 places to go in Union Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Union Township
1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Playgrounds in Union Township
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Union Township
Hollandsburg Ramp
DirectionsMansfield Ramp
DirectionsPortland Mills Ramp
DirectionsRaccoon RampIn Raccoon State Recreation Area
DirectionsWalker Ramp
DirectionsScenic views in Union Township
1 scenic view without a name on the map.
Campgrounds in Union Township
2 campgrounds without a name on the map.
Trails & water
7 named trails and 3 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 5.4 mi
Trail 11.5 mi
Trail 4/Canyon Trail1.2 mi
Trail 30.6 mi
Trail 6/Archery Trail0.5 mi
Trail #50.4 mi
County Road 1200E0.3 mi
She-Qui-Oh "Lean Raccoon" Vista0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.8 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.8 mi
off-road bike paths
When to get out
August is the best month for walking in Union Township
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) | 9.6 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 15.0 | 14.7 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 35 | 40 | 51 | 64 | 74 | 82 | 85 | 84 | 78 | 66 | 51 | 40 |
| Rain (in) | 3.0 | 2.4 | 3.2 | 4.8 | 4.7 | 5.2 | 4.3 | 3.3 | 3.2 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.0 |
February is the driest month (2.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 5.2 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Union Township →
Next door
Union Township and its neighbors
Union Township has the most mapped trails of the 4 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 | 19% | 0.2 | 69 | 8% | B |
| Adams Township | under 1% | under 0.1 | 18 | 28% | C− |
| Clinton Township | 1% | under 0.1 | 2 | 37% | D |
| Jackson Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
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: Raccoon State Recreation Area, 5.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Union Township is conserved land?
19% 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?
Raccoon State Recreation Area and Lake Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Union Township?
0.8 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.8 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Union Township?
5,653 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Union Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,829 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Union Township have?
Ahead of 59% 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 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 →