State Game Lands Number 48
Managed by Pennsylvania Game Commission
945 acres3.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Photo by User:AudeVivere. · CC BY-SA 2.5B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Bedford Township
Bedford Township has 122 miles of mapped trails, 1.8 for every square mile of land
319 acres are parks and preserves, 63 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: State Game Lands Number 48 (3.2 mi). 21% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 67% of U.S. towns · #528 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
1,195 acres · of 68.1 sq mi of land
Trails
122 mi
1.8 per sq mi of land
Park land
319 ac
63 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
21%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.9 mi
0.9 mi paths
Highest peak
2,556 ft
Kinton Knob
Lakes & rivers
6
What kind of outdoors town is Bedford Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Bedford Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Bedford Township is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns, #528 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. Trail miles hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Bedford Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical PA town 8% · U.S. 4%B−Trails1.8 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (122 mi) · PA 0.4 · U.S. 0.4APark land63 acres of park per 1,000 residents (319 acres) · PA 14 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home21% of residents within a half mile of a park · PA 73% · U.S. 72%C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 67%
LessMore
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,037)Ahead of 49%
Pennsylvania towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 8%; the U.S., 4%), so Bedford Township’s 3% is ahead of 18% of Pennsylvania towns, while its trails per square mile lead 91% of them.
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.
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 State Game Lands Number 48, with 3.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Bedford County Fairgrounds
Park
79 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Sports Park
Park
5 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
1,195 conserved acres
3% of Bedford Township’s land. Who manages Bedford Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State fish & wildlife945 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)42 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits1 ac
Not recorded228 ac
State Resource Management Area · 945 acLocal Park · 227 acConservation Easement · 42 acPrivate Recreation or Education · 1 acPrivate Conservation · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 22 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Game Land 048 State Resource Management Area | State fish & wildlife | 945 | Open |
| Bedford Springs Local Park | Not recorded | 227 | Open |
| Berger Tract Private Recreation or Education | Not recorded | 2 | Open |
Things to do
8 places to go in Bedford Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Bedford Township
Bedford Elementary Playground
DirectionsBedford Elementary Playground
DirectionsPlus 2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Bedford Township
1 dog park without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Peaks in Bedford Township
Kinton Knob2,556 ft elevation
DirectionsCampgrounds in Bedford Township
Friendship Village CampgroundFee
DirectionsMerritt Pond Campground
DirectionsTrails & water
13 named trails and 6 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 5.9 miUnpaved · 5.8 mi
Evitt Trail - Orange Triangle4.2 mi
Davey Lewis Run Trail - Blue3.7 mi
Bedford Heritage Trail1.5 mi
Scenic Overlook Trail South1.1 mi
Scenic Overlook Trail North1.1 mi
Anderson Trail - Green Square1.0 mi
Lake Spring Trail - Red Diamond0.8 mi
Upper Federal Hill Trail - Yellow0.6 mi
Entrance Trail - Red0.6 mi
Naugle's Mill Trail - Blue Circle0.5 mi
3 more trails
Upper Federal Hill Trail - Orange
0.3 miLimestone Trail - Green Diamond
0.2 miCrystal Spring Trail
0.1 miBiking & sports
0.9 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.9 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
4Equestrian
4Soccer
3Golf
2Tennis
2Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →5 places on the National Register, one a National Historic Landmark
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 29 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Bedford Township: April, July 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.
| 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 | 14.7 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 38 | 41 | 50 | 64 | 73 | 81 | 85 | 84 | 77 | 65 | 52 | 42 |
| Rain (in) | 2.7 | 2.3 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 3.9 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 3.7 | 3.1 | 2.9 | 3.1 |
February is the driest month (2.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 4.1 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Bedford Township →
Next door
Bedford Township and its neighbors
Bedford Township has the second most mapped trails of the 8 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Cumberland Valley Township147 miBedford Township122 miNapier Township108 miColerain Township87 miHarrison Township68 miSouth Woodbury Township66 miSnake Spring Township55 miEast St. Clair Township37 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bedford Township | 3% | 1.8 | 63 | 21% | B+ |
| Harrison Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| South Woodbury Township | 14% | 1.9 | under 1 | under 1% | C+ |
| Snake Spring Township | 6% | 2.1 | 20 | 28% | B+ |
| Colerain Township | 17% | 2.1 | 174 | 3% | A− |
| Napier Township | 9% | 1.9 | 1,659 | 12% | A− |
| East St. Clair Township | 1% | 1.1 | under 1 | 4% | C− |
| Cumberland Valley Township | 18% | 2.5 | 6 | 5% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Bedford Township
Where can I hike in Bedford Township?
The longest trail networks: State Game Lands Number 48, 3.2 miles; Bedford County Fairgrounds, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Bedford Township is conserved land?
3% of its land, against a typical 8% for a Pennsylvania town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Bedford Township’s trails?
State Game Lands Number 48 and Bedford County Fairgrounds don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Bedford Township?
0.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.9 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Bedford Township?
66,434 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Bedford Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,264 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Bedford Township have?
Ahead of 67% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #528 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. 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 Bedford 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 →