Pinchot State Forest
Managed by Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry
87 acres3.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
BOutdoors
Outdoors in Exeter
Exeter has 30 miles of mapped trails, 6.4 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: Pinchot State Forest (3.6 mi). 3 acres are parks and preserves, 0.5 per 1,000 residents. 87% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 62% of U.S. towns · #597 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
89 acres · of 4.6 sq mi of land
Trails
30 mi
6.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
3 ac
0.5 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
87%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
1,473 ft
Mount Lookout
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Exeter?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Exeter have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Exeter is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns, #597 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Exeter’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical PA town 8% · U.S. 4%B−Trails6.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (30 mi) · PA 0.4 · U.S. 0.4A+Park land0.5 acres of park per 1,000 residents (3 acres) · PA 14 · U.S. 13DParks close to home87% 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 62%
LessMore
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,037)Ahead of 42%
Pennsylvania towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 8%; the U.S., 4%), so Exeter’s 3% is ahead of 22% of Pennsylvania towns, while its trails per square mile lead 100% of them.
Water is 6% of Exeter’s area (0 of 5 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 3%.
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
The longest trail network is Pinchot State Forest, with 3.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Thomas Street Park
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Senator Raphael J. Musto Nature Park
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
89 conserved acres
3% of Exeter’s land. Water is left out: Exeter has 4.6 square miles of land and 0.3 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Exeter’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources87 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government1 ac
Regional agency1 ac
Not recorded87 ac
State Resource Management Area · 174 acLocal Park · 2 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pinchot State Forest State Resource Management Area | State natural resources | 174 | Open |
| Thomas Street Community Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 1 | Open |
| Schooley Avenue Park Local Park | Regional agency | 1 | Open |
Things to do
4 places to go in Exeter
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Exeter
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Peaks in Exeter
Mount Lookout1,473 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
3 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 18.6 miUnpaved · 18.0 mi
Section 41.2 mi
Ricks Mud0.5 mi
The Race Course0.3 mi
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
2Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Exeter: April to July
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) | 9.5 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.1 | 14.9 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 35 | 38 | 47 | 61 | 72 | 80 | 85 | 82 | 75 | 63 | 50 | 40 |
| Rain (in) | 2.7 | 2.1 | 2.9 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 3.7 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.9 | 2.8 | 2.9 |
February is the driest month (2.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 4.0 inches fall in August, the wettest month. The climate in Exeter →
Next door
Exeter and its neighbors
Exeter has the most mapped trails of the 6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exeter | 3% | 6.4 | under 1 | 87% | B |
| West Pittston | 5% | under 0.1 | 2 | 99%+ | C+ |
| Exeter Township | under 1% | 0.3 | under 1 | 22% | C− |
| Pittston | 4% | 0.2 | 5 | 99%+ | B |
| Duryea | 1% | 3.4 | 2 | 96% | B |
| Jenkins Township | 41% | 0.9 | 11 | 83% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Exeter
Where can I hike in Exeter?
The longest trail networks: Pinchot State Forest, 3.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Exeter is conserved land?
3% 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 Exeter’s trails?
Pinchot State Forest and Thomas Street Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Exeter?
40,614 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Exeter or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 91 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Exeter have?
Ahead of 62% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #597 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 Exeter 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 →