State Game Lands Number 149
Managed by Pennsylvania Game Commission
1,978 acres12.2 mi of trail
Drifton BranchHays Creek Branch
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Foster Township
15% of Foster Township’s land is conserved: 4,357 acres
259 acres are parks and preserves, 75 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: State Game Lands Number 149 (12.2 mi), Lehigh Gorge State Park (0.7 mi). 27 miles of mapped trail cross Foster Township, 0.6 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 79% of U.S. towns · #324 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Conserved land
15%
4,357 acres · of 44.7 sq mi of land
Trails
27 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
259 ac
75 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
43%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
4.0 mi
4.0 mi paths
Highest peak
1,726 ft
Green Mountain
Lakes & rivers
2
What kind of outdoors town is Foster Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Foster Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Foster Township is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns, #324 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Foster Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land15% of the land · typical PA town 8% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (27 mi) · PA 0.4 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land75 acres of park per 1,000 residents (259 acres) · PA 14 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home43% 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 79%
LessMore
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,037)Ahead of 69%
Pennsylvania towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 8%; the U.S., 4%), so Foster Township’s 15% is ahead of 71% of Pennsylvania towns, while its trails per square mile lead 61% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ 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 State Game Lands Number 149, with 12.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Lehigh Gorge State Park
Managed by Pennsylvania Bureau of State Parks
150 acres0.7 mi of trail
Hays Creek Branch
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailheadWebsite ↗
State Game Lands Number 187
Managed by Pennsylvania Game Commission
1,585 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it
4,357 conserved acres
15% of Foster Township’s land. Who manages Foster Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State fish & wildlife5,846 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits3,322 ac
Joint410 ac
State parks336 ac
State natural resources150 ac
Other state land85 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government1 ac
State Resource Management Area · 3,687 acConservation Easement · 2,873 acState Recreation Area · 2,310 acPrivate Conservation · 839 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 430 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Game Land 149 State Resource Management Area | State fish & wildlife | 1,978 | Open |
| Sgl 149 State Recreation Area | State fish & wildlife | 1,954 | Open |
| State Game Land 187 State Resource Management Area | State fish & wildlife | 1,559 | Open |
| George and Lillian Picton Wildlife Sanctuary (South) Private Conservation | Not recorded | 914 | Open |
| Sgl 187 State Recreation Area | State fish & wildlife | 356 | Open |
| George and Lillian Picton Wildlife Sanctuary (North) Private Conservation | Not recorded | 354 | Open |
| Lehigh Gorge State Park State Park | State parks | 336 | Open |
| Penrose Swamp Barrens State Resource Management Area | State natural resources | 150 | Open |
| Eckley Miner's Village State Historic or Cultural Area | Other state land | 85 | Open |
| Upper Lehigh Playground Local Recreation Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 1 | Open |
Things to do
3 places to go in Foster Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Foster Township
Hickory Hills Community Pool
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Foster Township
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Peaks in Foster Township
Green Mountain1,726 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
3 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Upper Lehigh Branch2.3 mi
Hays Creek Branch1.4 mi
Drifton Branch1.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
4.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
4.0 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
2Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place 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.
Eckley Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1971
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Foster Township: May, July 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) | 9.5 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.1 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 31 | 34 | 43 | 56 | 66 | 74 | 78 | 76 | 69 | 58 | 46 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 3.6 | 2.7 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 4.9 | 4.8 | 4.6 | 5.1 | 4.7 | 3.7 | 4.0 |
February is the driest month (2.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 78 °F). 5.1 inches fall in September, the wettest month. The climate in Foster Township →
Next door
Foster Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Kidder Township66 miDennison Township40 miHazle Township29 miFoster Township27 miButler Township9.6 miWhite Haven0.7 miJeddo0.0 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foster Township | 15% | 0.6 | 75 | 43% | A− |
| Kidder Township | 50% | 1.0 | 6,991 | 48% | A |
| Dennison Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| White Haven | 18% | 0.6 | 133 | 99%+ | A+ |
| Jeddo | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Hazle Township | 4% | 0.6 | 121 | 47% | B+ |
| Butler Township | 11% | 0.3 | 45 | 12% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Foster Township
Where can I hike in Foster Township?
The longest trail networks: State Game Lands Number 149, 12.2 miles; Lehigh Gorge State Park, 0.7 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Foster Township is conserved land?
15% 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 Foster Township’s trails?
State Game Lands Number 149 and Lehigh Gorge State Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Foster Township?
4.0 miles of bike routes are on the map: 4.0 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Foster Township?
98,649 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Foster Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 4,380 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Foster Township have?
Ahead of 79% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #324 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 Foster 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 →