Delaware Canal State Park
Managed by Pennsylvania Bureau of State Parks
27 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Durham Mill and Furnace · Photo: Shuvaev · CC BY-SA 3.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Durham Township
39% of Durham Township’s land is conserved: 2,296 acres
58 acres are parks and preserves, 55 per 1,000 residents. 0.5 miles of mapped trail cross Durham Township, 0.1 per square mile of land. 45% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 65% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
39%
2,296 acres · of 9.2 sq mi of land
Trails
0.5 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
58 ac
55 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
45%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.4 mi
2.4 mi paths
Highest peak
738 ft
Chestnut Hill
What kind of outdoors town is Durham Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Durham Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Durham Township is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Durham Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land39% of the land · typical PA town 8% · U.S. 4%A+Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · PA 0.4 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land55 acres of park per 1,000 residents (58 acres) · PA 14 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home45% 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 65%
LessMore
Pennsylvania towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 8%; the U.S., 4%), so Durham Township’s 39% is ahead of 96% of Pennsylvania towns, while its trails per square mile lead 14% 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
River Islands Natural Area
Managed by Pennsylvania Bureau of State Parks
7 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Durham Aqueduct/ Lock 21 Recreation Area
Park
1 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it
2,296 conserved acres
39% of Durham Township’s land. Who manages Durham Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County5,050 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits1,859 ac
Joint967 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government58 ac
State parks25 ac
State fish & wildlife14 ac
Not recorded291 ac
Agricultural Easement · 6,200 acForest Stewardship Easement · 1,331 acConservation Easement · 473 acPrivate Conservation · 102 acLocal Recreation Area · 58 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1,930 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 3 of 133 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keeley_Sunday Road Farm Llc Conservation Easement | Not recorded | 129 | Closed |
| Durham Bat Mine Private Conservation | Not recorded | 82 | Restricted |
| Bucks County Open Space Local Recreation Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 56 | Closed |
| Cook Parcel Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 31 | Open |
| Delaware Canal State Park State Park | State parks | 25 | Open |
| Heritage Conservancy Property Private Conservation | Not recorded | 20 | Unknown |
| Riegelsville Access State Other or Unknown | State fish & wildlife | 14 | Open |
| Undeveloped (Buckwampum Mountain) Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 13 | Unknown |
| Millett Holdings Ii, Llc Private Agricultural | Not recorded | 13 | Closed |
| The Mill At Village Green Local Park | Not recorded | 3 | Open |
1 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
5 places to go in Durham Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in Durham Township
Canoe LaunchIn Durham Aqueduct/ Lock 21 Recreation Area
DirectionsCanoe LaunchIn Durham Aqueduct/ Lock 21 Recreation Area
DirectionsPeaks in Durham Township
Chestnut Hill738 ft elevation
DirectionsMine Hill482 ft elevation
DirectionsRattlesnake Hill453 ft elevation
DirectionsBiking & sports
2.4 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.4 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Durham Mill and FurnaceBuilding · listed 1976
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Durham Township: April to June 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 | 15.1 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.9 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 38 | 41 | 50 | 62 | 72 | 80 | 85 | 83 | 76 | 65 | 53 | 43 |
| Rain (in) | 3.5 | 2.8 | 3.9 | 3.9 | 4.2 | 4.4 | 5.1 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 3.4 | 4.2 |
February is the driest month (2.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 5.1 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Durham Township →
Next door
Durham Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Holland Township15 miWilliams Township12 miSpringfield Township6.9 miNockamixon Township4.8 miDurham Township0.5 miRiegelsville0.1 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Durham Township | 39% | 0.1 | 55 | 45% | B |
| Riegelsville | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Nockamixon Township | 31% | 0.2 | 367 | 42% | A− |
| Williams Township | 15% | 0.7 | 75 | 76% | A |
| Springfield Township | 27% | 0.2 | 25 | 29% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Durham Township
Where can I hike in Durham Township?
The longest trail networks: Durham Aqueduct/ Lock 21 Recreation Area, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Durham Township is conserved land?
39% 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 Durham Township’s trails?
Delaware Canal State Park and River Islands Natural Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Durham Township?
2.4 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.4 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Durham Township?
27,064 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Durham Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 253 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Durham Township have?
Ahead of 65% 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 Durham 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 →