Portage Lakes State Park
Park
337 acres6.2 mi of trail
Shoreline TrailPlanet Walk TrailButterfly TrailPheasant Run Trail+1
Dogs on leash
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: Bleak23 · CC BY-SA 3.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in New Franklin
New Franklin has 734 acres of parks, 53 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Portage Lakes State Park (6.2 mi). 11 miles of mapped trail cross New Franklin, 0.4 per square mile of land. 4% of New Franklin’s land is conserved, about 604 acres.
Ahead of 66% of U.S. towns · #314 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Conserved land
4%
604 acres · of 25.0 sq mi of land
Trails
11 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
734 ac
53 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
56%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.0 mi
3.0 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
6
2 beaches · 1 boat launch
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does New Franklin have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, New Franklin is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns, #314 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 New Franklin’s overall grade.
Conserved land4% of the land · typical OH town 3% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (11 mi) · OH 0.2 · U.S. 0.4BPark land53 acres of park per 1,000 residents (734 acres) · OH 15 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home56% of residents within a half mile of a park · OH 60% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 66%
LessMore
Ohio towns of 2,500+ (993)Ahead of 68%
Water is 6% of New Franklin’s area (2 of 27 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 4%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to B+. 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 Portage Lakes State Park, with 6.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Craftsmen Park
Managed by Masons of Summit County
28 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
All 5 parks & preserves
Portage Lakes State Park337 acres · 6.2 mi of trail
DirectionsMiracle Park8 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
DirectionsCraftsmen Park28 acres · Masons of Summit County
George Sisler Memorial Park15 acres
DirectionsLockhart Fields7 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
604 conserved acres
4% of New Franklin’s land. Water is left out: New Franklin has 25.0 square miles of land and 1.6 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages New Franklin’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources292 ac
Private owners257 ac
Town or city51 ac
County16 ac
State Park · 292 acPrivate Park · 204 acState Conservation Area · 53 acLocal Conservation Area · 30 acLocal Park · 26 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turkeyfoot Lake State Park State Park | State natural resources | 204 | Open |
| Spring Hills Golf and Tennis Club Private Park | Private owners | 163 | Open |
| West Reservoir State Park State Park | State natural resources | 44 | Open |
| Turkeyfoot Golf Course Private Park | Private owners | 41 | Open |
| Craftsman Park State Conservation Area | Private owners | 37 | Closed |
| Rex Lake State Park State Park | State natural resources | 33 | Open |
| Maple Grove Park Local Conservation Area | Town or city | 30 | Open |
| Vanderhoof Raod Trailhead Local Park | County | 14 | Open |
| Csc Shooting Club, Caa Archery Club State Conservation Area | Private owners | 13 | Closed |
| Mud Lake State Park State Park | State natural resources | 12 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
6 places to go in New Franklin
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in New Franklin
Turkeyfoot BeachIn Portage Lakes State Park
DirectionsWaterfront
DirectionsPlaygrounds in New Franklin
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in New Franklin
1 dog park without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in New Franklin
1 boat launch without a name on the map.
Trails & water
5 named trails and 6 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 2.9 mi
Shoreline Trail4.0 mi
Planet Walk Trail0.9 mi
Butterfly Trail0.2 mi
Pheasant Run Trail0.2 mi
Fox Trace0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
3.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
3.0 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
6Baseball
2Soccer
1Football
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →4 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 New Franklin: April, 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) | 9.5 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.1 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 35 | 38 | 48 | 61 | 72 | 80 | 84 | 82 | 75 | 63 | 50 | 39 |
| Rain (in) | 2.5 | 2.1 | 2.9 | 3.6 | 3.9 | 4.4 | 4.0 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 2.8 | 2.6 |
February is the driest month (2.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.4 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in New Franklin →
Next door
New Franklin and its neighbors
New Franklin has the second most mapped trails of the 8 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Green20 miNew Franklin11 miLawrence Township9.0 miNorton6.9 miChippewa Township4.1 miBarberton2.9 miCoventry Township1.0 miClinton0.0 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Franklin | 4% | 0.4 | 53 | 56% | B+ |
| Norton | 7% | 0.3 | 51 | 66% | B+ |
| Barberton | 4% | 0.3 | 7 | 98% | B |
| Green | 7% | 0.6 | 72 | 51% | A− |
| Clinton | 19% | under 0.1 | 234 | 99%+ | A− |
| Lawrence Township | 6% | 0.3 | 42 | 48% | B |
| Coventry Township | 14% | 0.1 | 74 | 85% | A− |
| Chippewa Township | 1% | 0.1 | 1 | 23% | C− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in New Franklin
Where can I hike in New Franklin?
The longest trail networks: Portage Lakes State Park, 6.2 miles; Miracle Park, 0.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of New Franklin is conserved land?
4% 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 New Franklin’s trails?
OpenStreetMap records dogs as welcome at Portage Lakes State Park (on leash). For the rest, check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in New Franklin?
3.0 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.0 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near New Franklin?
13,708 acres of parks and open public land lie inside New Franklin or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 734 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does New Franklin have?
Ahead of 66% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #314 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 New Franklin 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 →