Kreider Shoe Manufacturing Company · Photo: Niagara · CC BY 3.096% of residents live within a half mile of a park in Elizabethtown
1.4 miles of mapped trail cross Elizabethtown, 0.5 per square mile of land. 83 acres are parks and preserves, 7.0 per 1,000 residents. 5% of Elizabethtown’s land is conserved, about 78 acres.
Ahead of 66% of U.S. towns · #533 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Elizabethtown?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Elizabethtown have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Elizabethtown is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns, #533 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
Pennsylvania towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 8%; the U.S., 4%), so Elizabethtown’s 5% is ahead of 32% of Pennsylvania towns, while its trails per square mile lead 57% of them.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Poplar Street Park, with 0.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Elizabethtown Borough Community Park
Hickory Lane Park
78 conserved acres
5% of Elizabethtown’s land. Who manages Elizabethtown’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fairgrounds Local Park | Regional agency | 22 | Open |
| Elizabethtown Borough Community Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 22 | Open |
| Willowood Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 17 | Open |
| Hickory Lane Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 13 | Open |
| Poplar Street Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 10 | Open |
| Municipal Land Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 4 | Open |
| Conoy Creek Local Park | Not recorded | 1 | Open |
6 places to go in Elizabethtown
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Plus 4 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
3 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
1.9 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
The best walking months in Elizabethtown: 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 | 15.0 | 14.8 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 38 | 41 | 50 | 63 | 73 | 81 | 85 | 83 | 76 | 65 | 53 | 43 |
| Rain (in) | 3.1 | 2.6 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.9 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.6 | 4.1 | 3.2 | 3.5 |
February is the driest month (2.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 4.6 inches fall in September, the wettest month. The climate in Elizabethtown →
Elizabethtown and its neighbors
Elizabethtown has the second most mapped trails of the 3 towns around it. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elizabethtown | 5% | 0.5 | 7 | 96% | B+ |
| Mount Joy Township | 29% | 0.2 | 45 | 53% | B+ |
| West Donegal Township | 28% | under 0.1 | 2 | 43% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Elizabethtown
Where can I hike in Elizabethtown?
The longest trail networks: Poplar Street Park, 0.3 miles; Elizabethtown Borough Community Park, 0.1 miles; Hickory Lane Park, 0.2 miles; Schreiber Quadrangle, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Elizabethtown is conserved land?
5% 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 Elizabethtown’s trails?
Poplar Street Park and Elizabethtown Borough Community Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Elizabethtown?
1.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.2 of off-road paths and 1.7 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Elizabethtown?
10,065 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Elizabethtown or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 83 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Elizabethtown have?
Ahead of 66% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #533 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 Elizabethtown neighbors.
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 →