Lower Marsh Creek Presbyterian Church · Photo: Smallbones · CC017% of Highland Township’s land is conserved: 1,308 acres
5.6 miles of mapped trail cross Highland Township, 0.5 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 31% of U.S. towns. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Highland Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Highland Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Highland Township is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
Pennsylvania towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 8%; the U.S., 4%), so Highland Township’s 17% is ahead of 75% of Pennsylvania towns, while its trails per square mile lead 52% of them.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
1,308 conserved acres
17% of Highland Township’s land. Who manages Highland Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1,308 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 74 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
5 places to go in Highland Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
1 named trail and 1 lakes & rivers
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
The best walking months in Highland Township: April to June 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 | 14.7 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 39 | 42 | 51 | 64 | 73 | 82 | 86 | 84 | 77 | 66 | 54 | 43 |
| Rain (in) | 3.2 | 2.6 | 3.8 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 3.5 | 4.7 | 3.8 | 3.2 | 3.5 |
February is the driest month (2.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 86 °F). 4.7 inches fall in September, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 86 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Highland Township →
Highland Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highland Township | 17% | 0.5 | under 1 | under 1% | C |
| Cumberland Township | 33% | 0.5 | under 1 | 18% | B− |
| Franklin Township | 44% | 0.9 | 205 | 11% | A− |
| Hamiltonban Township | 39% | 1.2 | 389 | 29% | A |
| Liberty Township | 5% | 0.6 | under 1 | 10% | C |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Highland Township
How much of Highland Township is conserved land?
17% 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.
Is there public land near Highland Township?
51,661 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Highland Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), almost none of it inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Highland Township have?
Ahead of 31% 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 Highland Township neighbors.
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 →