State Game Lands Number 197
Managed by Pennsylvania Game Commission
1,551 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0COutdoors
Outdoors in Columbus Township
11% of Columbus Township’s land is conserved: 2,888 acres
1.5 miles of mapped trail cross Columbus Township. 27% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 11 acres are parks and preserves, 6.0 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 32% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
11%
2,888 acres · of 40.6 sq mi of land
Trails
1.5 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
11 ac
6.0 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
27%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
1,877 ft
Baker Hill
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Columbus Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Columbus Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Columbus Township is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Columbus Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land11% of the land · typical PA town 8% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · PA 0.4 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land6.0 acres of park per 1,000 residents (11 acres) · PA 14 · U.S. 13CParks close to home27% 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 32%
LessMore
Pennsylvania towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 8%; the U.S., 4%), so Columbus Township’s 11% is ahead of 61% of Pennsylvania towns, while its trails per square mile lead 11% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
State Game Lands Number 306
Managed by Pennsylvania Game Commission
822 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
State Game Lands Number 263
Managed by Pennsylvania Game Commission
86 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Mather Park
Managed by Columbus Township
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
2,888 conserved acres
11% of Columbus Township’s land. Who manages Columbus Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State fish & wildlife2,483 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)540 ac
County167 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits83 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government10 ac
Not recorded100 ac
State Resource Management Area · 2,479 acConservation Easement · 540 acPrivate Conservation · 183 acAgricultural Easement · 167 acLocal Park · 10 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 303 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 20 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Game Land 197 State Resource Management Area | State fish & wildlife | 1,543 | Open |
| State Game Land 306 State Resource Management Area | State fish & wildlife | 849 | Open |
| Toplovich Bog Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 183 | Unknown |
| State Game Land 263 State Resource Management Area | State fish & wildlife | 87 | Open |
| Mather Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 10 | Open |
| Columbus Access State Other or Unknown | State fish & wildlife | 4 | Open |
Things to do
6 places to go in Columbus Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Columbus Township
Corry Playground
DirectionsCorry Playground
DirectionsPeaks in Columbus Township
Baker Hill1,877 ft elevation
DirectionsHumphrey Hill1,752 ft elevation
DirectionsIngersol Hill1,749 ft elevation
DirectionsDowd Hill1,732 ft elevation · In State Game Lands Number 263
DirectionsTrails & water
1 lakes & rivers
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.
Courts & fields
3Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Columbus Township: May, 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) | 9.4 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 32 | 34 | 43 | 57 | 69 | 76 | 80 | 79 | 72 | 60 | 47 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 3.5 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 3.9 | 4.1 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 3.7 | 3.8 |
February is the driest month (2.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 4.6 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Columbus Township →
Next door
Columbus Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbus Township | 11% | under 0.1 | 6 | 27% | C |
| Spring Creek Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Freehold Township | 1% | 0.1 | under 1 | under 1% | D |
| Wayne Township | 11% | 0.2 | 19 | 3% | B− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Columbus Township
How much of Columbus Township is conserved land?
11% 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 Columbus Township’s trails?
State Game Lands Number 197 and State Game Lands Number 306 don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Columbus Township?
27,610 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Columbus Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 2,501 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Columbus Township have?
Ahead of 32% 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 Columbus 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 →