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East Hempfield TownshipPhoto: Nicholas · CC BY 2.0
B+Outdoors
Outdoors in East Hempfield Township

13% of East Hempfield Township’s land is conserved: 1,691 acres

The biggest trail networks: Farmingdale Park (1.6 mi). 71% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 7.7 miles of mapped trail cross East Hempfield Township, 0.4 per square mile of land.

Ahead of 67% of U.S. towns · #515 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. What drives it

Conserved land
13%
1,691 acres · of 21.1 sq mi of land
Trails
7.7 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
328 ac
12 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
71%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.4 mi
2.0 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2

What kind of outdoors town is East Hempfield Township?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Land that stays wild13% of the land is conserved; a typical Pennsylvania town, 8%.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does East Hempfield Township have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, East Hempfield Township is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns, #515 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; conserved land ranks highest, park acres per resident lowest.

B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of East Hempfield Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land13% of the land · typical PA town 8% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (8 mi) · PA 0.4 · U.S. 0.4BPark land12 acres of park per 1,000 residents (328 acres) · PA 14 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to home71% of residents within a half mile of a park · PA 73% · U.S. 72%B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 67%
LessMore
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,037)Ahead of 50%

Pennsylvania towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 8%; the U.S., 4%), so East Hempfield Township’s 13% is ahead of 65% of Pennsylvania towns, while its trails per square mile lead 45% of them.

How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B to B+. 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.

1234
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 Farmingdale Park, with 1.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Farmingdale Park

Park
74 acres1.6 mi of trail
Trestle Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto Noel S Dorwart Park Parking

Amos Herr Park

Park
40 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Noel S. Dorwart Memorial Park

Park
10 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dorwart Trailhead Path
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto Noel S Dorwart Park Parking

Salunga Park

Park
7 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 5 parks & preserves
Farmingdale Park74 acres · 1.6 mi of trail
Directions
Noel S. Dorwart Memorial Park10 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Directions
Amos Herr Park40 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Directions
Salunga Park7 acres
Directions
Villages Of Springton Valley Community Park5 acres
Directions
Who protects it

1,691 conserved acres

13% of East Hempfield Township’s land. Who manages East Hempfield Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

County4,248 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government422 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits166 ac
Other state land64 ac
Not recorded142 ac
Agricultural Easement · 4,453 acLocal Park · 273 acLocal Recreation Area · 152 acPrivate Agricultural · 142 acConservation Easement · 22 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1,124 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 95 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Four Seasons Golf Club
Local Recreation Area
Other or Unknown Local Government107Unknown
Farmingdale Trails
Local Park
Other or Unknown Local Government74Open
Nolt Road Property
Local Park
Other or Unknown Local Government50Open
1998-017
Private Agricultural
Not recorded46Closed
Amos Herr Park
Local Park
Other or Unknown Local Government46Open
2002-009
Private Agricultural
Not recorded44Closed
Jacobs Creek Park
Local Park
Other or Unknown Local Government29Open
1998-016
Private Agricultural
Not recorded26Closed
1997-001
Private Agricultural
Not recorded25Closed
Hempfield Sports Complex
Local Recreation Area
Other or Unknown Local Government23Open

5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.

Things to do

12 places to go in East Hempfield Township

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Picnic areas in East Hempfield Township
PicnicIn Amos Herr Park
Directions
Trestle Trail Picnic SiteIn Farmingdale Park
Directions
Trails & water

3 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers

Named trails
Open to bikes · 0.5 miUnpaved · 0.9 mi
Wheatland Hills Trail0.6 mi
Trestle Trail0.4 mi
Dorwart Trailhead Path0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Chiques CreekLittle Conestoga Creek
Biking & sports

2.4 miles of bike routes

Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.

2.0 mi
off-road bike paths
0.3 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
40Tennis
17Golf
14Baseball
8Soccer
4Basketball
3Football
2Pickleball
2Volleyball

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

4 places on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.

History →
Landis Mill Covered BridgeStructure · listed 1980
About it
Christian Habeck FarmDistrict · listed 1994
About it
Mumma, Samuel N., Tobacco WarehouseBuilding · listed 1997
About it
Berger, John & Son, Company Tobacco WarehouseBuilding · listed 2014
About it
When to get out

The best walking months in East Hempfield 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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.610.611.813.214.415.014.713.712.411.19.99.3
High (°F)394251647382868477655443
Rain (in)3.02.63.73.63.84.14.53.94.64.23.13.5

February is the driest month (2.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 86 °F). 4.6 inches fall in September, the wettest month. The climate in East Hempfield Township →

Next door

East Hempfield Township and its neighbors

Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Penn Township21 miManor Township18 miManheim Township15 miWest Hempfield Township7.8 miEast Hempfield Township7.7 miLancaster Township3.4 miEast Petersburg1.6 miRapho Township1.4 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
East Hempfield Township13%0.41271%B+
Manheim Township7%0.61485%B+
Rapho Township31%under 0.1437%C+
East Petersburg6%1.31199%+A−
West Hempfield Township27%0.41081%A−
Lancaster Township5%0.6880%B
Penn Township36%0.71853%A−
Manor Township36%0.54575%A

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in East Hempfield Township

Where can I hike in East Hempfield Township?

The longest trail networks: Farmingdale Park, 1.6 miles; Amos Herr Park, 0.1 miles; Noel S. Dorwart Memorial Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of East Hempfield Township is conserved land?

13% 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 East Hempfield Township’s trails?

Farmingdale Park and Amos Herr Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Where can I bike in East Hempfield Township?

2.4 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.0 of off-road paths and 0.3 of shoulders and shared lanes.

Is there public land near East Hempfield Township?

19,893 acres of parks and open public land lie inside East Hempfield Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 328 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does East Hempfield Township have?

Ahead of 67% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #515 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 East Hempfield Township neighbors.

Town Square →
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 →