Harrison Hills Park
Managed by Allegheny County
554 acres14.7 mi of trail
Rachel Carson TrailScouts TrailWetlands TrailPond Loop+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Lee Paxton · CC BY-SA 4.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Harrison Township
Harrison Township has 21 miles of mapped trails, 2.9 for every square mile of land
643 acres are parks and preserves, 65 per 1,000 residents. 13% of Harrison Township’s land is conserved, about 627 acres. The biggest trail networks: Harrison Hills Park (14.7 mi).
Ahead of 93% of U.S. towns · #80 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Conserved land
13%
627 acres · of 7.4 sq mi of land
Trails
21 mi
2.9 per sq mi of land
Park land
643 ac
65 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
73%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
2
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Harrison Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Harrison Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Harrison Township is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns, #80 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; trail miles rank highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Harrison Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land13% of the land · typical PA town 8% · U.S. 4%A−Trails2.9 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (21 mi) · PA 0.4 · U.S. 0.4A+Park land65 acres of park per 1,000 residents (643 acres) · PA 14 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home73% 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 93%
LessMore
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,037)Ahead of 92%
Pennsylvania towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 8%; the U.S., 4%), so Harrison Township’s 13% is ahead of 67% of Pennsylvania towns, while its trails per square mile lead 96% of them.
Water is 6% of Harrison Township’s area (0 of 8 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 12%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would still be 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 Harrison Hills Park, with 14.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Natrona Recreational Park
Park
1 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
627 conserved acres
13% of Harrison Township’s land. Water is left out: Harrison Township has 7.4 square miles of land and 0.5 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Harrison Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Other or Unknown Local Government613 ac
Town or city1 ac
Not recorded13 ac
Local Park · 611 acLocal Recreation Area · 16 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 10 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harrison Hills Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 568 | Open |
| Alsco Community Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 26 | Open |
| Silver Lake Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 10 | Open |
| Harrison Ballpark Local Recreation Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 10 | Open |
| Citizens Hose Playground Local Recreation Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 6 | Open |
| Fred C. Skwirut Memorial Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 3 | Open |
| Meadow Street Payground Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 2 | Open |
| Natrona Playground And Ballfield Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| Meadow Street Playground Local Park | Not recorded | 1 | Unknown |
Things to do
10 places to go in Harrison Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Harrison Township
8 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Harrison Township
Harrison Hills Park Dog AreaIn Harrison Hills Park
DirectionsBoat launches in Harrison Township
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
9 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 12.7 miHorses · 8.6 miUnpaved · 17.5 mi
Rachel Carson Trail7.7 mi
Scouts Trail2.8 mi
Wetlands Trail2.1 mi
Pond Loop1.2 mi
Woodlands Trail1.1 mi
Spicebush Trail1.0 mi
Creekside Trail0.7 mi
Spicebush Trail (White)0.4 mi
Creekside Trail (closed)0.3 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
7Baseball
5Tennis
5Soccer
2Basketball
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The best walking months in Harrison 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 | 15.1 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.9 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 36 | 40 | 49 | 63 | 72 | 80 | 84 | 82 | 76 | 64 | 51 | 41 |
| Rain (in) | 3.2 | 2.6 | 3.3 | 3.6 | 4.0 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 3.2 | 3.1 | 3.3 |
February is the driest month (2.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.7 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Harrison Township →
Next door
Harrison Township and its neighbors
Harrison Township has the most mapped trails of the 8 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Harrison Township21 miAllegheny Township11 miBuffalo Township10 miLower Burrell5.2 miFawn Township4.3 miTarentum2.3 miNatrona Heights1.3 miNatrona0.2 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harrison Township | 13% | 2.9 | 65 | 73% | A |
| Allegheny Township | 4% | 0.4 | 112 | 46% | B |
| Natrona | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Tarentum | 3% | 1.9 | 7 | 98% | A− |
| Natrona Heights | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Lower Burrell | 2% | 0.5 | 18 | 58% | B− |
| Fawn Township | 1% | 0.3 | 31 | 7% | C+ |
| Buffalo Township | 6% | 0.4 | 37 | 43% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Harrison Township
Where can I hike in Harrison Township?
The longest trail networks: Harrison Hills Park, 14.7 miles; Alsco Community Park, 0.2 miles; Natrona Recreational Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Harrison Township is conserved land?
13% 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 Harrison Township’s trails?
Harrison Hills Park and Alsco Community Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Harrison Township?
9,306 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Harrison Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 643 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Harrison Township have?
Ahead of 93% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #80 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 Harrison 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 →