Rothrock State Forest
Managed by Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry
3,194 acres10.8 mi of trail
Down Under TrailOver There TrailPipeline TrailHorsefly Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Cass Township
20% of Cass Township’s land is conserved: 4,241 acres
The biggest trail networks: Rothrock State Forest (10.8 mi), State Game Lands Number 99 (3.2 mi), Raystown Lake Recreation Area (1.6 mi). 31 acres are parks and preserves, 29 per 1,000 residents. 17 miles of mapped trail cross Cass Township, 0.5 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 60% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
20%
4,241 acres · of 33.0 sq mi of land
Trails
17 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
31 ac
29 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
under 1%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
2,323 ft
Butler Knob
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Cass Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Cass Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Cass Township is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Cass Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land20% of the land · typical PA town 8% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (17 mi) · PA 0.4 · U.S. 0.4BPark land29 acres of park per 1,000 residents (31 acres) · PA 14 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home0% of residents within a half mile of a park · PA 73% · U.S. 72%D−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 60%
LessMore
Pennsylvania towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 8%; the U.S., 4%), so Cass Township’s 20% is ahead of 80% of Pennsylvania towns, while its trails per square mile lead 56% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ 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 Rothrock State Forest, with 10.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
State Game Lands Number 99
Managed by Pennsylvania Game Commission
767 acres3.2 mi of trail
Standing Stone Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Raystown Lake Recreation Area
Managed by United States Army Corp of Engineers
258 acres1.6 mi of trail
Horse Knob Fire Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Trough Creek State Park
Managed by Pennsylvania Bureau of State Parks
31 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
4,241 conserved acres
20% of Cass Township’s land. Who manages Cass Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources3,193 ac
State fish & wildlife767 ac
Army Corps of Engineers259 ac
State parks31 ac
State Resource Management Area · 3,960 acRecreation Management Area · 259 acState Park · 31 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rothrock State Forest State Resource Management Area | State natural resources | 3,193 | Open |
| State Game Land 099 State Resource Management Area | State fish & wildlife | 767 | Open |
| Raystown Recreation Area Recreation Management Area | Army Corps of Engineers | 259 | Open |
| Trough Creek State Park State Park | State parks | 31 | Open |
Things to do
4 places to go in Cass Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Peaks in Cass Township
Butler Knob2,323 ft elevation · In Rothrock State Forest
DirectionsShirley Knob1,867 ft elevation
DirectionsThe Barrens1,604 ft elevation · In Rothrock State Forest
DirectionsCampgrounds in Cass Township
008 Tar Kiln RoadFee · In Rothrock State Forest · PA DCNR
DirectionsTrails & water
7 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 12.2 miHorses · 12.8 miUnpaved · 9.3 mi
Standing Stone Trail3.1 mi
Down Under Trail2.0 mi
Over There Trail1.6 mi
Pipeline Trail1.1 mi
Horse Knob Fire Trail1.0 mi
Horsefly Trail0.9 mi
Brook Trail0.8 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
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.
Down Under TrailBike route
2 miOver There TrailBike route
1.6 miPipeline TrailBike route
1.1 miCourts & fields
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Cass Township: April to 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 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.9 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 37 | 40 | 49 | 62 | 72 | 80 | 84 | 82 | 75 | 64 | 51 | 41 |
| Rain (in) | 2.7 | 2.4 | 3.4 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 3.9 | 3.7 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 3.5 | 2.9 | 3.1 |
February is the driest month (2.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.1 inches fall in September, the wettest month. The climate in Cass Township →
Next door
Cass Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Penn Township39 miTodd Township25 miShirley Township21 miCass Township17 miCromwell Township9.7 miUnion Township8.6 miClay Township2.4 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cass Township | 20% | 0.5 | 29 | under 1% | B |
| Cromwell Township | 9% | 0.2 | 5 | 3% | C |
| Todd Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Union Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Shirley Township | 19% | 0.4 | under 1 | 21% | C+ |
| Penn Township | 68% | 1.4 | 12 | under 1% | B+ |
| Clay Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Cass Township
Where can I hike in Cass Township?
The longest trail networks: Rothrock State Forest, 10.8 miles; State Game Lands Number 99, 3.2 miles; Raystown Lake Recreation Area, 1.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Cass Township is conserved land?
20% 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 Cass Township’s trails?
Rothrock State Forest and State Game Lands Number 99 don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Cass Township?
78,771 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Cass Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 4,265 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Cass Township have?
Ahead of 60% 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 Cass 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 →