Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Zeete · CC BY-SA 4.020% of Sparta Township’s land is conserved, about 4,649 acres. The biggest trail networks: Weldon Brook Wildlife Management Area (13.3 mi), Sparta Mountain Wildlife Management Area (7.7 mi), Mahlon Dickerson Reservation (1.1 mi). 27 miles of mapped trail cross Sparta Township, 0.7 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 94% of U.S. towns · #123 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Sparta Township is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #123 of 468 in New Jersey. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; park acres per resident rank highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.
New Jersey towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 11%; the U.S., 4%), so Sparta Township’s 20% is ahead of 69% of New Jersey towns, while its trails per square mile lead 53% of them.
Water is 5% of Sparta Township’s area (2 of 39 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 19%.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
The longest trail network is Weldon Brook WMA, with 13.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
20% of Sparta Township’s land. Water is left out: Sparta Township has 36.7 square miles of land and 2.0 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Sparta Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 255 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weldon Brook Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 2,246 | Open |
| Sparta Mountain Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 1,459 | Open |
| Sparta Township Conservation Area Local Conservation Area | Town or city | 316 | Open |
| Kittatinny Valley State Park State Park | State natural resources | 225 | Open |
| Sparta Mountain Sanctuary Private Conservation | Not recorded | 222 | Open |
| Tax Exempt# 1918-05-006 Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 203 | Closed |
| Pimple Hills State Park | Other state land | 182 | Open |
| Sparta Township Unknown Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 139 | Open |
| Wallkill Preserve State Conservation Area | Other state land | 119 | Open |
| Mahlon Dickerson Reservation State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 74 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
5 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
2 dog parks without a name on the map.
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
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) | 9.5 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.1 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 36 | 39 | 47 | 61 | 71 | 79 | 83 | 82 | 75 | 63 | 51 | 41 |
| Rain (in) | 3.4 | 2.7 | 3.8 | 3.7 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 3.3 | 4.0 |
February is the driest month (2.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.5 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Sparta Township →
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sparta Township | 20% | 0.7 | 278 | 88% | A |
| Ogdensburg | 24% | under 0.1 | 215 | 99%+ | A |
| Hardyston Township | 45% | 0.7 | 629 | 68% | A |
| Lafayette Township | 21% | 0.4 | 383 | 77% | A |
| Andover Township | 24% | 1.8 | 394 | 72% | A+ |
| Jefferson Township | 52% | 2.1 | 519 | 92% | A+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
The longest trail networks: Weldon Brook Wildlife Management Area, 13.3 miles; Sparta Mountain Wildlife Management Area, 7.7 miles; Mahlon Dickerson Reservation, 1.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
20% 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.
Weldon Brook Wildlife Management Area and Sparta Mountain Wildlife Management Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
0.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.2 of off-road paths and 0.7 of shoulders and shared lanes. Named routes: Paulinskill Valley Trail.
97,493 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Sparta Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 5,576 of them inside the town line.
Ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #123 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.
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Sparta Township neighbors.
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 →