Whetzel Preserve
Managed by Allegheny Land Trust
188 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Photo: Generic1139 · CC BY 3.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Forward Township
20% of Forward Township’s land is conserved: 2,429 acres
223 acres are parks and preserves, 74 per 1,000 residents. 0.4 miles of mapped trail cross Forward Township. 31% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 56% of U.S. towns · #672 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Conserved land
20%
2,429 acres · of 18.9 sq mi of land
Trails
0.4 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
223 ac
74 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
31%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Forward Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Forward Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Forward Township is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns, #672 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. Conserved land holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Forward Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land20% of the land · typical PA town 8% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · PA 0.4 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land74 acres of park per 1,000 residents (223 acres) · PA 14 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home31% 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 56%
LessMore
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,037)Ahead of 35%
Pennsylvania towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 8%; the U.S., 4%), so Forward Township’s 20% is ahead of 80% of Pennsylvania towns, while its trails per square mile lead 8% 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.
Gallatin/Sunnyside Riverfront Park
Park
5 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
2,429 conserved acres
20% of Forward Township’s land. Who manages Forward Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County6,431 ac
Regional Water Districts2,233 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits192 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government16 ac
Not recorded199 ac
Agricultural Easement · 8,664 acPrivate Conservation · 383 acLocal Park · 21 acLocal Recreation Area · 4 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 2,206 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 81 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whetzel Preserve Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 383 | Open |
| Gallatin Community Park Local Park | Not recorded | 9 | Unknown |
| Gallatin Sunnyside Riverfront Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 8 | Open |
| Bunola Ballfield Local Recreation Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 4 | Open |
| Longvue Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 4 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Forward Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Forward Township
avas swimming pool
DirectionsBoat launches in Forward Township
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
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
9Golf
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Forward Township: April 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 | 80 | 83 | 82 | 76 | 64 | 52 | 42 |
| Rain (in) | 3.1 | 2.7 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 3.1 | 3.0 | 3.2 |
February is the driest month (2.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.5 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Forward Township →
Next door
Forward Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Elizabeth Township21 miUnion Township5.5 miJefferson Hills4.9 miCarroll Township1.5 miForward Township0.4 miMonongahela0.1 miElizabeth0.0 miNew Eagle0.0 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forward Township | 20% | under 0.1 | 74 | 31% | B |
| Elizabeth Township | 13% | 0.9 | 112 | 77% | A |
| Elizabeth | 2% | under 0.1 | 4 | 99%+ | C+ |
| Union Township | under 1% | 0.4 | 4 | 40% | C− |
| Monongahela | 2% | 0.1 | 6 | 99%+ | B− |
| Carroll Township | 1% | 0.1 | 13 | 50% | C |
| Jefferson Hills | 5% | 0.3 | 31 | 69% | B |
| New Eagle | 2% | under 0.1 | 5 | 99%+ | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Forward Township
How much of Forward Township is conserved land?
20% 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 Forward Township’s trails?
Whetzel Preserve and Gallatin/Sunnyside Riverfront Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Forward Township?
15,172 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Forward Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 223 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Forward Township have?
Ahead of 56% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #672 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 Forward 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 →