Bread Lock Park
Managed by Warren County
25 acres0.4 mi of trail
Fitness Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Nicholas · CC BY 2.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Franklin Township
25% of Franklin Township’s land is conserved: 3,783 acres
705 acres are parks and preserves, 236 per 1,000 residents. 71% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 5.5 miles of mapped trail cross Franklin Township, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 84% of U.S. towns · #255 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
Conserved land
25%
3,783 acres · of 23.4 sq mi of land
Trails
5.5 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
705 ac
236 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
71%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.9 mi
0.9 mi paths
Highest peak
866 ft
Pohatcong Mountain
What kind of outdoors town is Franklin Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Franklin Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Franklin Township is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns, #255 of 468 in New Jersey. Conserved land holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Franklin Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land25% of the land · typical NJ town 11% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (6 mi) · NJ 0.7 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land236 acres of park per 1,000 residents (705 acres) · NJ 25 · U.S. 13AParks close to home71% of residents within a half mile of a park · NJ 98% · U.S. 72%B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 84%
LessMore
New Jersey towns of 2,500+ (468)Ahead of 46%
New Jersey towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 11%; the U.S., 4%), so Franklin Township’s 25% is ahead of 78% of New Jersey towns, while its trails per square mile lead 22% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ 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 Bread Lock Park, with 0.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
3,783 conserved acres
25% of Franklin Township’s land. Who manages Franklin Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County2,882 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government1,972 ac
Town or city886 ac
Other state land371 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)315 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits302 ac
State fish & wildlife99 ac
Agricultural Easement · 6,463 acState Conservation Area · 320 acLocal Other or Unknown · 99 acState Recreation Area · 42 acState Other or Unknown · 20 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 3,288 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 14 of 156 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buttermilk Bridge Preserve State Conservation Area | Other state land | 221 | Open |
| Morris Canal Local Other or Unknown | County | 103 | Open |
| Musconetcong River Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 99 | Open |
| Warren Trail State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 62 | Open |
| Franklin Township Youth Association Recreation Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 12 | Open |
| Franklin Township Athletic Facility Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Sigler Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 2 | Closed |
| Preserved Farmland Private Agricultural | Not recorded | 2 | Closed |
Things to do
3 places to go in Franklin Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Franklin Township
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Peaks in Franklin Township
Pohatcong Mountain866 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
2 named trails
Named trails
Unpaved · 1.5 mi
Fitness Trail0.4 mi
Musconetcong Watershed Association Education Trail0.4 mi
Biking & sports
0.9 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.9 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
5Soccer
3Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The best walking months in Franklin Township: April to June, August 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) | 9.6 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.4 | 15.1 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 37 | 40 | 49 | 62 | 71 | 79 | 84 | 82 | 75 | 64 | 52 | 42 |
| Rain (in) | 3.5 | 2.7 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 4.1 | 4.5 | 4.9 | 4.8 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 3.4 | 4.2 |
February is the driest month (2.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.9 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Franklin Township →
Next door
Franklin Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Harmony Township17 miWashington Township12 miBethlehem Township9.6 miFranklin Township5.5 miGreenwich Township3.0 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin Township | 25% | 0.2 | 236 | 71% | A− |
| Bethlehem Township | 32% | 0.5 | 699 | 99% | A+ |
| Washington Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Harmony Township | 27% | 0.7 | 656 | 71% | A |
| Greenwich Township | 23% | 0.3 | 119 | 90% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Franklin Township
Where can I hike in Franklin Township?
The longest trail networks: Bread Lock Park, 0.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Franklin Township is conserved land?
25% 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 Franklin Township’s trails?
Bread Lock Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Franklin Township?
0.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.9 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Franklin Township?
42,407 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Franklin Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 726 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Franklin Township have?
Ahead of 84% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #255 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 Franklin 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 →