Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Sandyston Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Flickr - Nicholas T - EdgedPhoto: Nicholas A. Tonelli from Pennsylvania, USA · CC BY 2.0
A+Outdoors
Outdoors in Sandyston Township

More than half of Sandyston Township’s land is conserved: 76%

76% of Sandyston Township’s land is conserved, about 19,990 acres. 7,688 acres are parks and preserves, 3,987 per 1,000 residents. 62 miles of mapped trail cross Sandyston Township, 1.5 per square mile of land.

Ahead of 96% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Conserved land
76%
19,990 acres · of 41.3 sq mi of land
Trails
62 mi
1.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
7,688 ac
3,987 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
63%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
7.2 mi
Lakes & rivers
11
3 beaches · 1 boat launch

What kind of outdoors town is Sandyston Township?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Land that stays wild76% of the land is conserved; a typical New Jersey town, 11%.Room to roam3,987 acres of park per 1,000 residents; the typical U.S. town has 13.A trail town1.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 89% of U.S. towns.A beach town3 named beaches on the map.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Sandyston Township have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Sandyston Township is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; conserved land ranks highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.

A+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Sandyston Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land76% of the land · typical NJ town 11% · U.S. 4%A+Trails1.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (62 mi) · NJ 0.7 · U.S. 0.4APark land3,987 acres of park per 1,000 residents (7,688 acres) · NJ 25 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home63% 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 96%
LessMore

New Jersey towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 11%; the U.S., 4%), so Sandyston Township’s 76% is ahead of 100% of New Jersey towns, while its trails per square mile lead 82% of them.

How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A 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.

123
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 Stokes State Forest, with 45.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Stokes State Forest

Nature preserve
11,137 acres45.3 mi of trail
Blue Mountain Loop TrailAppalachian TrailBlue Mountain TrailStony Brook Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗

Flatbrook Wildlife Management Area

Managed by New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife
1,978 acres5.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Hainesville Wildlife Management Area

Managed by New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife
65 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it

19,990 conserved acres

76% of Sandyston Township’s land. Who manages Sandyston Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

State natural resources11,375 ac
State parks11,162 ac
National Park Service5,443 ac
State fish & wildlife4,012 ac
County1,165 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government590 ac
Other state land404 ac
State Resource Management Area · 24,910 acNational Recreation Area · 5,434 acState Conservation Area · 2,399 acAgricultural Easement · 900 acUnknown Easement · 859 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 929 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 71 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Stokes State Forest
State Resource Management Area
State parks22,894Open
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
National Recreation Area
National Park Service5,434Open
Flatbrook Roy Wildlife Management Area
State Resource Management Area
State fish & wildlife3,872Open
Hainesville Woods Preserve
State Conservation Area
Other state land400Open
Kittantinny Scout Mountain Reserve
Private Recreation or Education
Land trusts & nonprofits211Open
Hainesville Wildlife Management Area
State Conservation Area
State fish & wildlife129Open
Flatbrook-Roy Wildlife Management Area
State Resource Management Area
State natural resources13Unknown
Little Flatbrook Fishing Access
State Other or Unknown
State fish & wildlife11Open
Appalachian National Scenic Trail
National Scenic or Historic Trail
National Park Service8Open
Things to do

21 places to go in Sandyston Township

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Beaches in Sandyston Township
Kittatinny Lake Beach
Directions
Kittattiny Beach
Directions
Stokes BeachHours: sunrise-sunset · In Stokes State Forest
Directions
Trails & water

25 named trails and 11 lakes & rivers

Named trails
Open to bikes · 33.0 miHorses · 35.3 miUnpaved · 38.1 mi
Blue Mountain Loop Trail9.7 mi
Appalachian Trail4.0 mi
Blue Mountain Trail2.9 mi
Red Maple Trail2.6 mi
Stony Brook Trail2.0 mi
Tinsley Trail1.9 mi
Criss Trail1.6 mi
Woods Road/Red Maple Trail1.5 mi
Silver Mine Trail1.5 mi
Steffen Trail1.2 mi
15 more trails
Coursen Trail
1.2 mi
Deep Root Trail
1.2 mi
Tower Trail
1.1 mi
Shay Road/Trail
1.0 mi
Geology Trail
0.7 mi
Lead Mine Trail
0.7 mi
Stony Lake Trail
0.7 mi
Stoll Trail
0.6 mi
Swenson Trail
0.6 mi
Upper Ridge Road Trail
0.6 mi
Silver Mine Branch
0.5 mi
Stony Brook/Tower Trail
0.4 mi
Jacobs Ladder Trail
0.3 mi
Blue Mountain Connector Trail
0.3 mi
Stony Brook/Blue Mountain Loop Trail
0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Deer LakeKittatinny Camp LakereservoirKittatinny LakereservoirLake AshroereservoirLake OcquittunkLake Robert RookereservoirLake ShawannireservoirLake WapalannelakeShotwell PondpondStony LakelakeDelaware River
Biking & sports

7.2 miles of bike routes

Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.

7.2 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
2Baseball
1Basketball
1Soccer
1Softball

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

1 place on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 2 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.

History →
Peters Valley Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1980
About it
When to get out

The best walking months in Sandyston Township: April and May

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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.510.611.813.314.515.114.913.812.411.09.89.2
High (°F)353847607179848274635140
Rain (in)3.32.63.73.73.74.74.64.64.54.53.23.9

February is the driest month (2.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.7 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Sandyston Township →

Next door

Sandyston Township and its neighbors

Sandyston Township has the second most mapped trails of the 6 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Walpack Township63 miSandyston Township62 miMontague Township42 miDingman Township29 miDelaware Township22 miFrankford Township18 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Sandyston Township76%1.53,98763%A+
Frankford Township28%0.542267%A
Montague Township70%0.94,22273%A+
Walpack 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 Sandyston Township

Where can I hike in Sandyston Township?

The longest trail networks: Stokes State Forest, 45.3 miles; Flatbrook Wildlife Management Area, 5.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Sandyston Township is conserved land?

76% 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 Sandyston Township’s trails?

Stokes State Forest and Flatbrook Wildlife Management Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Where can I bike in Sandyston Township?

7.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 7.2 of shoulders and shared lanes.

Is there public land near Sandyston Township?

138,545 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Sandyston Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 19,269 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does Sandyston Township have?

Ahead of 96% 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 Sandyston Township neighbors.

Town Square →
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 →