State Game Lands Number 46
Managed by Pennsylvania Game Commission
3,768 acres14.1 mi of trail
Horse-Shoe TrailElders Run TrailMiddle Creek TrailMillstone Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto Spring Mountain Road Parking Area
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 4.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Clay Township
45% of Clay Township’s land is conserved: 6,297 acres
21 miles of mapped trail cross Clay Township, 0.9 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: State Game Lands Number 46 (14.1 mi), Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area (4.2 mi), Snyder Community Park (0.7 mi). 32 acres are parks and preserves, 4.6 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 68% of U.S. towns · #505 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Conserved land
45%
6,297 acres · of 22.0 sq mi of land
Trails
21 mi
0.9 per sq mi of land
Park land
32 ac
4.6 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
49%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
2
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Clay Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Clay Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Clay Township is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns, #505 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Clay Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land45% of the land · typical PA town 8% · U.S. 4%A+Trails0.9 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (21 mi) · PA 0.4 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land4.6 acres of park per 1,000 residents (32 acres) · PA 14 · U.S. 13CParks close to home49% 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 68%
LessMore
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,037)Ahead of 51%
Pennsylvania towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 8%; the U.S., 4%), so Clay Township’s 45% is ahead of 98% of Pennsylvania towns, while its trails per square mile lead 75% 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 46, with 14.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area
Nature preserve
1,618 acres4.2 mi of trail
Conservation TrailSpicebush TrailWillow Point TrailDeer Path Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Charity Gardens Park
Managed by Clay Township
4 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
6,297 conserved acres
45% of Clay Township’s land. Who manages Clay Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County7,701 ac
State fish & wildlife3,784 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits639 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government27 ac
Town or city15 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)11 ac
Joint3 ac
Agricultural Easement · 8,251 acState Resource Management Area · 3,784 acPrivate Agricultural · 441 acState Other or Unknown · 381 acUnknown Easement · 71 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 2,011 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 168 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Game Land 046 State Resource Management Area | State fish & wildlife | 4,151 | Open |
| 2002-008 Private Agricultural | Not recorded | 71 | Closed |
| 2016-016 Private Agricultural | Not recorded | 67 | Closed |
| 2016-011 Private Agricultural | Not recorded | 67 | Closed |
| 2016-017 Private Agricultural | Not recorded | 66 | Closed |
| 1990-004 Private Agricultural | Not recorded | 62 | Closed |
| 2009-020 Private Agricultural | Not recorded | 54 | Closed |
| 2015-004 Private Agricultural | Not recorded | 44 | Closed |
| Segloch Bog Private Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 29 | Unknown |
| Snyder Community Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 21 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
13 places to go in Clay Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Clay Township
5 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Clay Township
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Scenic views in Clay Township
Valley ViewIn State Game Lands Number 46
DirectionsVistaIn State Game Lands Number 46
DirectionsPlus 1 scenic view without a name on the map.
Picnic areas in Clay Township
Red Rock Picnic AreaIn Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area
DirectionsSunfish Pond Picnic AreaIn Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area
DirectionsWhite Oak Picnic AreaIn Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area
DirectionsCampgrounds in Clay Township
Starlite Camping ResortFee
DirectionsTrails & water
13 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 5.4 miHorses · 5.4 miUnpaved · 12.6 mi
Horse-Shoe Trail4.0 mi
Conservation Trail1.4 mi
YWAM Lanc Walking Trail1.3 mi
Elders Run Trail1.3 mi
Valley View Trail1.2 mi
Middle Creek Trail1.1 mi
Millstone Trail1.0 mi
Explorer Trail1.0 mi
Spicebush Trail0.6 mi
Willow Point Trail0.4 mi
3 more trails
Deer Path Trail
0.4 miValley View Trail Spur
0.3 miMillstone Trail Spur
0.1 miLakes & 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.
Courts & fields
3Softball
2Baseball
2Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Clay Township: April, May 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 | 14.8 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 38 | 42 | 51 | 63 | 73 | 81 | 85 | 84 | 77 | 65 | 53 | 43 |
| Rain (in) | 3.1 | 2.5 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.8 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 4.7 | 4.2 | 3.1 | 3.6 |
February is the driest month (2.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 4.7 inches fall in September, the wettest month. The climate in Clay Township →
Next door
Clay Township and its neighbors
Clay Township has the second most mapped trails of the 6 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Elizabeth Township36 miClay Township21 miWarwick Township7.5 miWest Cocalico Township6.0 miHeidelberg Township4.6 miEphrata Township2.2 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clay Township | 45% | 0.9 | 5 | 49% | B+ |
| Elizabeth Township | 42% | 2.1 | 129 | 57% | A |
| West Cocalico Township | 22% | 0.2 | 40 | 44% | B+ |
| Warwick Township | 24% | 0.4 | 10 | 52% | B |
| Ephrata Township | 20% | 0.1 | 14 | 75% | B+ |
| Heidelberg Township | 16% | 0.2 | 12 | 27% | B− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Clay Township
Where can I hike in Clay Township?
The longest trail networks: State Game Lands Number 46, 14.1 miles; Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area, 4.2 miles; Snyder Community Park, 0.7 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Clay Township is conserved land?
45% 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 Clay Township’s trails?
State Game Lands Number 46 and Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Clay Township?
20,694 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Clay Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 3,837 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Clay Township have?
Ahead of 68% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #505 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 Clay 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 →