Big Darby Headwaters Nature Preserve
Nature preserve
290 acres1.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Zane Township
5% of Zane Township’s land is conserved: 724 acres
37 acres are parks and preserves, 35 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Big Darby Headwaters Nature Preserve (1.3 mi). 13% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 41% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
724 acres · of 22.0 sq mi of land
Trails
2.1 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
37 ac
35 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
13%
of residents within ½ mile
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Zane Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Zane Township is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Zane Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical OH town 3% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · OH 0.2 · U.S. 0.4CPark land35 acres of park per 1,000 residents (37 acres) · OH 15 · U.S. 13A−Parks 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 41%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C 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 Big Darby Headwaters Nature Preserve, with 1.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Middleburg Memorial
Park
6 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
The Woods of Meeker Manor
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
724 conserved acres
5% of Zane Township’s land. Who manages Zane Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits624 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)69 ac
State natural resources31 ac
Private Conservation · 624 acConservation Easement · 69 acState Recreation Area · 31 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 69 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 7 of 9 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big Darby Creek Fee Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 624 | Unknown |
| Big Darby Cr SR State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 31 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Zane Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Zane Township
Natural Play AreaIn Big Darby Headwaters Nature Preserve
DirectionsPlus 1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Unpaved · 1.8 mi
Township Road 2430.5 mi
Biking & sports
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Courts & fields
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
August is the best month for walking in Zane Township
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 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 34 | 38 | 48 | 61 | 72 | 80 | 83 | 82 | 76 | 64 | 50 | 38 |
| Rain (in) | 2.9 | 2.4 | 3.1 | 4.0 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 3.6 | 3.2 | 2.8 | 3.1 | 3.0 |
February is the driest month (2.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.6 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Zane Township →
Next door
Zane Township and its neighbors
Zane Township has the most mapped trails of the 5 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Zane Township2.1 miPerry Township1.2 miWayne Township1.0 miMonroe Township0.6 miAllen Township0.3 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zane Township | 5% | 0.1 | 35 | 13% | C+ |
| Monroe Township | 1% | under 0.1 | 22 | 8% | C− |
| Allen Township | 1% | under 0.1 | 2 | 1% | D |
| Perry Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Wayne Township | 1% | under 0.1 | under 1 | under 1% | D |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Zane Township
Where can I hike in Zane Township?
The longest trail networks: Big Darby Headwaters Nature Preserve, 1.3 miles; Middleburg Memorial, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Zane 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 Zane Township’s trails?
Big Darby Headwaters Nature Preserve and Middleburg Memorial don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Zane Township?
2,256 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Zane Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 37 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Zane Township have?
Ahead of 41% 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 Zane 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 →