Elk Township Recreational Park
Park
42 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto Elephant Swamp Trail Parking
Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Elk Township
27% of Elk Township’s land is conserved: 3,347 acres
153 acres are parks and preserves, 34 per 1,000 residents. 16% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 1.1 miles of mapped trail cross Elk Township, 0.1 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 53% of U.S. towns · #416 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
Conserved land
27%
3,347 acres · of 19.2 sq mi of land
Trails
1.1 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
153 ac
34 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
16%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.6 mi
2.6 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
6
What kind of outdoors town is Elk Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Elk Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Elk Township is ahead of 53% of U.S. towns, #416 of 468 in New Jersey. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Elk Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land27% of the land · typical NJ town 11% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · NJ 0.7 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land34 acres of park per 1,000 residents (153 acres) · NJ 25 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home16% of residents within a half mile of a park · NJ 98% · U.S. 72%C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 53%
LessMore
New Jersey towns of 2,500+ (468)Ahead of 11%
New Jersey towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 11%; the U.S., 4%), so Elk Township’s 27% is ahead of 81% of New Jersey towns, while its trails per square mile lead 10% 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
3,347 conserved acres
27% of Elk Township’s land. Who manages Elk Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County3,605 ac
Other state land2,666 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)202 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government167 ac
Town or city167 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits47 ac
Agricultural Easement · 6,704 acUnknown Easement · 104 acUnknown · 47 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 3,300 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 12 of 187 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fee Simple - SADC Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 47 | Unknown |
Things to do
1 places to go in Elk Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Elk Township
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
6 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
2.6 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.6 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
7Baseball
3Soccer
2Basketball
1Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Elk Township: April to June
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) | 9.7 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 15.0 | 14.7 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 42 | 45 | 53 | 65 | 74 | 82 | 87 | 85 | 78 | 67 | 56 | 46 |
| Rain (in) | 3.3 | 2.8 | 4.4 | 3.6 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.2 | 4.0 | 3.2 | 4.2 |
February is the driest month (2.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 4.7 inches fall in August, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Elk Township →
Next door
Elk Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Glassboro13 miClayton7.0 miFranklin Township5.3 miHarrison Township1.7 miElk Township1.1 miRichwood0.6 miSouth Harrison Township0.3 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elk Township | 27% | 0.1 | 34 | 16% | B− |
| Clayton | 37% | 1.0 | 176 | 56% | A |
| Harrison Township | 16% | 0.1 | 19 | 39% | B− |
| Richwood | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Glassboro | 21% | 1.4 | 52 | 91% | A+ |
| South Harrison Township | 39% | under 0.1 | 30 | 18% | B− |
| Franklin Township | 17% | 0.1 | 215 | 56% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Elk Township
How much of Elk Township is conserved land?
27% of its land, against a typical 11% for a New Jersey town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Elk Township’s trails?
Elk Township Recreational Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Elk Township?
2.6 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.6 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Elk Township?
24,247 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Elk Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 153 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Elk Township have?
Ahead of 53% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #416 of 468 in New Jersey. 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 Elk 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 →