Merli-Sarnoski County Park
Managed by Lackawanna County
766 acres17 mi of trail
BoneyardZiplineMy Brother's TrailFern+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: en:User:Preost · CC BY-SA 3.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Fell Township
Fell Township has 886 acres of parks, 383 for every 1,000 residents
28 miles of mapped trail cross Fell Township, 1.8 per square mile of land. 11% of Fell Township’s land is conserved, about 1,034 acres. The biggest trail networks: Merli-Sarnoski County Park (17 mi).
Ahead of 94% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
11%
1,034 acres · of 15.3 sq mi of land
Trails
28 mi
1.8 per sq mi of land
Park land
886 ac
383 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
77%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.9 mi
2.9 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
4
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Fell Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Fell Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Fell Township is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; park acres per resident rank highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Fell Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land11% of the land · typical PA town 8% · U.S. 4%A−Trails1.8 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (28 mi) · PA 0.4 · U.S. 0.4APark land383 acres of park per 1,000 residents (886 acres) · PA 14 · U.S. 13AParks close to home77% 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 94%
LessMore
Pennsylvania towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 8%; the U.S., 4%), so Fell Township’s 11% is ahead of 59% of Pennsylvania towns, while its trails per square mile lead 91% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A 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 Merli-Sarnoski County Park, with 17 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Jefferson Street Park
Park
4 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
1,034 conserved acres
11% of Fell Township’s land. Who manages Fell Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Other or Unknown Local Government806 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits465 ac
Not recorded146 ac
Local Park · 819 acConservation Easement · 310 acForest Stewardship Easement · 155 acPrivate Conservation · 111 acLocal Recreation Area · 17 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 155 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Merli-Sarnoski County Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 796 | Open |
| Sposito Preserve Private Conservation | Not recorded | 111 | Open |
| River Street Township Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 23 | Open |
| Lackawanna River Heritage Trail Private Recreation or Education | Not recorded | 11 | Open |
| Rail Trail of Northeastern Pa. Local Recreation Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 10 | Open |
Things to do
3 places to go in Fell Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Fell Township
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in Fell Township
1 boat launch without a name on the map.
Waterfalls in Fell Township
1 waterfall without a name on the map.
Trails & water
16 named trails and 4 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 16.4 miHorses · 2.6 miUnpaved · 18.2 mi
Boneyard2.3 mi
O&W Trail2.3 mi
Zipline1.4 mi
My Brother's Trail1.2 mi
Fern1.1 mi
Squeezeplay0.8 mi
Scranton Branch0.6 mi
Porcupine Cliff Trail0.5 mi
Blade0.5 mi
Fox Rocks0.4 mi
6 more trails
Twister
0.4 miStart Loop
0.4 miHR 280
0.3 miTrail by the Falls
0.2 miView Trail
0.1 miMeadow Trail
0.1 miLakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
2.9 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.9 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
3Baseball
3Golf
1Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Fell Township: May to 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) | 9.5 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 31 | 34 | 43 | 56 | 67 | 75 | 79 | 77 | 71 | 59 | 46 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 3.5 | 2.8 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.7 | 3.4 | 3.7 |
February is the driest month (2.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 79 °F). 4.7 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Fell Township →
Next door
Fell Township and its neighbors
Fell Township has the most mapped trails of the 7 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Fell Township28 miCarbondale Township19 miClinton Township18 miClifford Township11 miCarbondale8.2 miGreenfield Township4.8 miVandling0.2 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fell Township | 11% | 1.8 | 383 | 77% | A |
| Vandling | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Greenfield Township | 16% | 0.2 | under 1 | 1% | C |
| Carbondale Township | 18% | 1.4 | 262 | 22% | A− |
| Clifford Township | 1% | 0.3 | 39 | 9% | C+ |
| Carbondale | 2% | 2.5 | 6 | 94% | B+ |
| Clinton Township | 13% | 0.5 | 450 | 27% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Fell Township
Where can I hike in Fell Township?
The longest trail networks: Merli-Sarnoski County Park, 17 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Fell 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 Fell Township’s trails?
Merli-Sarnoski County Park and Jefferson Street Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Fell Township?
2.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.9 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Fell Township?
21,211 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Fell Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 886 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Fell Township have?
Ahead of 94% 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 Fell 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 →