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Licking Township FarmlandPhoto: Ibagli · Public domain
B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Licking Township

Licking Township has 1,031 acres of parks, 210 for every 1,000 residents

35 miles of mapped trail cross Licking Township, 1.4 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Dawes Arboretum (8.8 mi), Dawes Arboretum North (6.6 mi), Dawes Arboretum East (3.2 mi). 13% of residents live within a half mile of a park.

Ahead of 71% of U.S. towns · #243 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it

Conserved land
5%
768 acres · of 25.8 sq mi of land
Trails
35 mi
1.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
1,031 ac
210 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
13%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
7.7 mi
4.0 mi lanes · 3.6 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
3

What kind of outdoors town is Licking Township?

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

Room to roam210 acres of park per 1,000 residents; the typical U.S. town has 13.A trail town1.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 87% of U.S. towns.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Licking Township have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Licking Township is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns, #243 of 993 in Ohio. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.

B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Licking Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical OH town 3% · U.S. 4%BTrails1.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (35 mi) · OH 0.2 · U.S. 0.4APark land210 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,031 acres) · OH 15 · U.S. 13AParks close to home13% of residents within a half mile of a park · OH 60% · U.S. 72%C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 71%
LessMore
Ohio towns of 2,500+ (993)Ahead of 76%
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.

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 Dawes Arboretum, with 8.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Dawes Arboretum

Park
502 acres8.8 mi of trail
Lake TrailDawn Redwood TrailBuckeye Collection TrailDaweswood Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Dawes Arboretum North

Park
301 acres6.6 mi of trail
Black Duck TrailDutch Fork Wetlands TrailOak Savanna TrailRed Barn Reserve Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Dawes Arboretum East

Park
221 acres3.2 mi of trail
Timber Run TrailGorge Overlook TrailScout Pond Loop
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it

768 conserved acres

5% of Licking Township’s land. Who manages Licking Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

Land trusts & nonprofits426 ac
Private owners180 ac
Other state land95 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)67 ac
State natural resources1 ac
Private Conservation · 426 acPrivate Park · 180 acUnknown Easement · 95 acConservation Easement · 67 acState Park · 1 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 162 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Dawes Arboretum
Private Conservation
Land trusts & nonprofits426Open
Burning Tree Golf Course
Private Park
Private owners94Open
Harbor Hills Golf Course
Private Park
Private owners86Open
Buckeye Lake State Park
State Park
State natural resources1Closed
Things to do

5 places to go in Licking Township

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

Playgrounds in Licking Township
Natural Play AreaIn Dawes Arboretum
Directions

Plus 3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.

Trails & water

25 named trails and 3 lakes & rivers

Named trails
Unpaved · 12.9 mi
Black Duck Trail1.3 mi
Timber Run Trail1.2 mi
Gorge Overlook Trail1.1 mi
Dutch Fork Wetlands Trail1.1 mi
Lake Trail0.9 mi
Dawn Redwood Trail0.8 mi
Buckeye Collection Trail0.7 mi
Oak Savanna Trail0.6 mi
Red Barn Reserve Trail0.6 mi
Red Maple Trail0.6 mi
15 more trails
Daweswood Trail
0.4 mi
Azalea Glen Trail
0.4 mi
Woodland Garden Trail
0.4 mi
Holly Hill Trail
0.4 mi
Tresemer Trail
0.4 mi
Auxillary Trail
0.3 mi
White Pine Forest Trail
0.3 mi
Appalachian Hollow Trail
0.3 mi
Black Duck Loop
0.2 mi
Aaggie's Trail
0.2 mi
Deepwoods Trail
0.2 mi
Hopewell Mound Trail
0.2 mi
Japanese Garden Trail
0.2 mi
Scout Pond Loop
0.2 mi
Beech Path
0.2 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Dawes LakepondScout PondpondSouth Fork Licking River
Biking & sports

7.7 miles of bike routes

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

4.0 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
3.6 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
3Tennis
3Baseball
2Basketball
1Pickleball
1Football

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

History along the way

2 places on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).

History →
Anthony Pitzer Jr. HouseBuilding · listed 1988
About it
Dawes Arboretum, TheDistrict · listed 2016
About it
When to get out

The best walking months in Licking Township: April 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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.610.611.813.214.415.014.713.712.411.19.99.3
High (°F)374151647381858377655241
Rain (in)3.02.43.63.84.24.44.63.63.22.92.83.1

February is the driest month (2.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 4.6 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Licking Township →

Next door

Licking Township and its neighbors

Licking Township has the most mapped trails of the 8 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Licking Township35 miHarbor Hills15 miUnion Township13 miFranklin Township9.7 miHeath5.5 miHebron1.4 miBuckeye Lake1.1 miThorn Township0.7 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Licking Township5%1.421013%B+
Union Township3%0.34750%B
Heath3%0.52053%B
Franklin Township6%0.421811%B
Hebron2%0.53290%B+
Harbor Hills5%5.4under 18%C+
Buckeye Lake1%0.6882%B−
Thorn Township2%under 0.1946%C

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in Licking Township

Where can I hike in Licking Township?

The longest trail networks: Dawes Arboretum, 8.8 miles; Dawes Arboretum North, 6.6 miles; Dawes Arboretum East, 3.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Licking Township is conserved land?

5% of its land, against a typical 3% for an Ohio town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.

Are dogs allowed on Licking Township’s trails?

Dawes Arboretum and Dawes Arboretum North don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Where can I bike in Licking Township?

7.7 miles of bike routes are on the map: 4.0 of painted or protected lanes and 3.6 of off-road paths.

Is there public land near Licking Township?

7,164 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Licking Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,031 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does Licking Township have?

Ahead of 71% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #243 of 993 in Ohio. 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 Licking 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 →