Ceres Park & Nature Preserve
Nature preserve
265 acres7.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Jesse Chew House · Photo: Ton2cats · CC BY-SA 3.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Mantua Township
16% of Mantua Township’s land is conserved: 1,680 acres
1,019 acres are parks and preserves, 66 per 1,000 residents. 93% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 13 miles of mapped trail cross Mantua Township, 0.8 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 93% of U.S. towns · #140 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
Conserved land
16%
1,680 acres · of 16.0 sq mi of land
Trails
13 mi
0.8 per sq mi of land
Park land
1,019 ac
66 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
93%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.4 mi
0.4 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
5
What kind of outdoors town is Mantua Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Mantua Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Mantua Township is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns, #140 of 468 in New Jersey. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; conserved land ranks highest, trail miles lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Mantua Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land16% of the land · typical NJ town 11% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.8 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (13 mi) · NJ 0.7 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land66 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,019 acres) · NJ 25 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home93% of residents within a half mile of a park · NJ 98% · U.S. 72%A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 93%
LessMore
New Jersey towns of 2,500+ (468)Ahead of 70%
New Jersey towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 11%; the U.S., 4%), so Mantua Township’s 16% is ahead of 61% of New Jersey towns, while its trails per square mile lead 57% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would still be 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 Ceres Park & Nature Preserve, with 7.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
1,680 conserved acres
16% of Mantua Township’s land. Who manages Mantua Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County1,776 ac
Other state land351 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government323 ac
Town or city222 ac
State natural resources50 ac
Not recorded135 ac
Agricultural Easement · 2,068 acLocal Resource Management Area · 192 acLocal Park · 168 acLocal Conservation Area · 154 acLocal Other or Unknown · 102 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1,105 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 5 of 105 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chestnut Branch Park Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 236 | Open |
| Pitman Golf Course Local Resource Management Area | County | 149 | Open |
| Gloucester County Conservation Area Local Conservation Area | County | 122 | Open |
| Ceres Park Local Park | Not recorded | 106 | Open |
| Tall Pines State Preserve State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 50 | Open |
| Gloucester County Unknown Local Other or Unknown | County | 32 | Open |
| Kammerer Local Conservation Area | County | 32 | Open |
| Mantua Township Unknown Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 13 | Open |
| Sewell Plauyground Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Mantua Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Mantua Township
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
1 named trail and 5 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 8.4 mi
Mantua Creek Trail0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.4 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.4 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
8Soccer
7Softball
6Baseball
3Tennis
3Basketball
1Beach volleyball
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →3 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 Mantua Township: April to June and August
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 | 15.0 | 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 | 4.3 | 3.6 | 3.5 | 4.2 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 3.9 | 3.2 | 4.1 |
February is the driest month (2.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 4.6 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Mantua Township →
Next door
Mantua Township and its neighbors
Mantua Township has the most mapped trails of the 8 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Mantua Township13 miWest Deptford Township6.3 miWashington Township6.1 miWenonah5.0 miDeptford Township2.7 miHarrison Township1.7 miPitman1.1 miSewell0.1 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mantua Township | 16% | 0.8 | 66 | 93% | A |
| Washington Township | 6% | 0.3 | 28 | 96% | A− |
| Sewell | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Deptford Township | 4% | 0.2 | 13 | 85% | B |
| West Deptford Township | 8% | 0.4 | 28 | 96% | A− |
| Wenonah | 21% | 5.0 | 56 | 99%+ | A+ |
| Pitman | 2% | 0.5 | 12 | 98% | B+ |
| Harrison Township | 16% | 0.1 | 19 | 39% | B− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Mantua Township
Where can I hike in Mantua Township?
The longest trail networks: Ceres Park & Nature Preserve, 7.4 miles; Alcyon Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Mantua Township is conserved land?
16% 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 Mantua Township’s trails?
Ceres Park & Nature Preserve and Tall Pines State Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Mantua Township?
0.4 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.4 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Mantua Township?
20,117 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Mantua Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,019 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Mantua Township have?
Ahead of 93% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #140 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 Mantua 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 →