Sunklands Conservation Area
Managed by Missouri Department of Conservation
1,045 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Montauk State Park Open Shelter · Photo: Steveewatkins · CC BY-SA 4.0C−Outdoors
Outdoors in Jackson Township
7% of Jackson Township’s land is conserved: 4,116 acres
28 miles of mapped trail cross Jackson Township, 0.3 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 21% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
7%
4,116 acres · of 96.9 sq mi of land
Trails
28 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Near a park
under 1%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Jackson Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Jackson Township is ahead of 21% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Jackson Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land7% of the land · typical MO town 2% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (28 mi) · MO 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land0.0 acres of park per 1,000 residents (0 acres) · MO 11 · U.S. 13DParks close to home0% of residents within a half mile of a park · MO 74% · U.S. 72%D−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 21%
LessMore
Few Missouri towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Jackson Township’s 7% is ahead of 90% of Missouri towns, while its trails per square mile lead 52% of them.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Jackson Township. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from D 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.
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.
Ozark National Scenic Riverways
Managed by National Park Service
79 acres
Dogs usually limited
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
4,116 conserved acres
7% of Jackson Township’s land. Who manages Jackson Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits8,923 ac
Other or Unknown Federal Land82 ac
National Park Service82 ac
Not recorded11 ac
Conservation Easement · 9,087 acPrivate Conservation · 11 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 4,105 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Powell (John) Natural Area Private Conservation | Not recorded | 11 | Closed |
Things to do
1 places to go in Jackson Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Peaks in Jackson Township
1 peak without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
When to get out
June is the best month for walking in Jackson 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) | 9.9 | 10.8 | 11.9 | 13.1 | 14.2 | 14.7 | 14.5 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.2 | 10.1 | 9.6 |
| High (°F) | 43 | 48 | 58 | 68 | 76 | 83 | 88 | 87 | 79 | 69 | 56 | 46 |
| Rain (in) | 2.7 | 2.8 | 4.1 | 4.9 | 5.6 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 2.9 |
January is the driest month (2.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 88 °F). 5.6 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 88 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Jackson Township →
Next door
Jackson Township and its neighbors
Jackson Township has the second most mapped trails of the 6 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Lynch Township40 miJackson Township28 miSherrill Township19 miOzark Township12 miPiney Township8.6 miCurrent Township1.9 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson Township | 7% | 0.3 | under 1 | under 1% | C− |
| Current Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Sherrill Township | 1% | 0.2 | under 1 | under 1% | D |
| Piney Township | 1% | 0.1 | 3 | 17% | D |
| Ozark Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Lynch Township | 20% | 0.4 | 13 | 2% | B− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Jackson Township
How much of Jackson Township is conserved land?
7% of its land, against a typical 2% for a Missouri town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Jackson Township’s trails?
Sunklands Conservation Area and Ozark National Scenic Riverways don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Jackson Township?
14,409 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Jackson Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), almost none of it inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Jackson Township have?
Ahead of 21% 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 Jackson 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 →