Hereford Manor Lakes
Nature preserve
425 acres7 mi of trail
Blue TrailOrange TrailWhite Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Nyttend · Public domainB−Outdoors
Outdoors in Franklin Township
11% of Franklin Township’s land is conserved: 1,250 acres
The biggest trail networks: Hereford Manor Lakes (7 mi). 8.9 miles of mapped trail cross Franklin Township, 0.5 per square mile of land. 16 acres are parks and preserves, 4.2 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 49% of U.S. towns · #754 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Conserved land
11%
1,250 acres · of 17.7 sq mi of land
Trails
8.9 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
16 ac
4.2 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
36%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Franklin Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Franklin Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Franklin Township is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns, #754 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Franklin Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land11% of the land · typical PA town 8% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (9 mi) · PA 0.4 · U.S. 0.4BPark land4.2 acres of park per 1,000 residents (16 acres) · PA 14 · U.S. 13CParks close to home36% 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 49%
LessMore
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,037)Ahead of 27%
Pennsylvania towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 8%; the U.S., 4%), so Franklin Township’s 11% is ahead of 60% of Pennsylvania towns, while its trails per square mile lead 56% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B. 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 Hereford Manor Lakes, with 7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
1,250 conserved acres
11% of Franklin Township’s land. Who manages Franklin Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County3,053 ac
State fish & wildlife468 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government7 ac
Not recorded9 ac
Agricultural Easement · 3,053 acState Other or Unknown · 468 acLocal Other or Unknown · 9 acLocal Park · 7 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 766 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hereford Manor Lakes State Other or Unknown | State fish & wildlife | 468 | Open |
| Fema Flood Buyout (County Or Municipal Owned) Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 9 | Open |
| Franklin Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 7 | Open |
Trails & water
3 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 5.5 mi
Blue Trail1.5 mi
Orange Trail0.7 mi
White Trail0.2 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
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Franklin Township: April, May, August and 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 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.4 | 15.1 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 36 | 40 | 49 | 62 | 72 | 80 | 84 | 83 | 76 | 64 | 52 | 41 |
| Rain (in) | 3.0 | 2.4 | 3.3 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 4.2 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 3.1 | 3.0 | 3.1 |
February is the driest month (2.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.5 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Franklin Township →
Next door
Franklin Township and its neighbors
Franklin Township has the second most mapped trails of the 6 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Jackson Township11 miFranklin Township8.9 miMarion Township6.7 miNorth Sewickley Township6.3 miLancaster Township4.7 miPerry Township0.8 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin Township | 11% | 0.5 | 4 | 36% | B− |
| Marion Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| North Sewickley Township | 7% | 0.3 | 70 | 27% | B |
| Perry Township | 9% | under 0.1 | 640 | 36% | B |
| Lancaster Township | under 1% | 0.2 | 1 | under 1% | D |
| Jackson Township | 1% | 0.5 | 9 | 37% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Franklin Township
Where can I hike in Franklin Township?
The longest trail networks: Hereford Manor Lakes, 7 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Franklin 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 Franklin Township’s trails?
Hereford Manor Lakes doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Franklin Township?
22,183 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Franklin Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 487 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Franklin Township have?
Ahead of 49% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #754 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 Franklin 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 →