State Game Lands Number 44
Managed by Pennsylvania Game Commission
11,874 acres8.8 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Nicholas · CC BY 2.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Horton Township
35% of Horton Township’s land is conserved: 12,587 acres
99 acres are parks and preserves, 68 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: State Game Lands Number 44 (8.8 mi), Moshannon State Forest (0.9 mi). 16% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 74% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
35%
12,587 acres · of 57.0 sq mi of land
Trails
29 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
99 ac
68 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
16%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
4
What kind of outdoors town is Horton Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Horton Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Horton Township is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Horton Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land35% of the land · typical PA town 8% · U.S. 4%A+Trails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (29 mi) · PA 0.4 · U.S. 0.4BPark land68 acres of park per 1,000 residents (99 acres) · PA 14 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home16% 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 74%
LessMore
Pennsylvania towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 8%; the U.S., 4%), so Horton Township’s 35% is ahead of 93% of Pennsylvania towns, while its trails per square mile lead 57% 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 44, with 8.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
12,587 conserved acres
35% of Horton Township’s land. Who manages Horton Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State fish & wildlife11,873 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits510 ac
State natural resources330 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government98 ac
Not recorded28 ac
State Resource Management Area · 12,203 acConservation Easement · 256 acForest Stewardship Easement · 253 acLocal Park · 98 acPrivate Conservation · 28 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 258 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 044 State Resource Management Area | State fish & wildlife | 11,873 | Open |
| Moshannon State Forest State Resource Management Area | State natural resources | 326 | Open |
| Horton Township Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 98 | Open |
| Toby Creek Watershed Association Private Conservation | Not recorded | 28 | Closed |
| Elk State Forest State Resource Management Area | State natural resources | 4 | Open |
Trails & water
4 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
When to get out
The best walking months in Horton Township: May and July to 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 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.1 | 14.9 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 32 | 35 | 45 | 58 | 69 | 76 | 80 | 78 | 72 | 60 | 47 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 3.4 | 2.7 | 3.4 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 3.5 |
February is the driest month (2.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 4.6 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Horton Township →
Next door
Horton Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Huston Township78 miRidgway Township47 miSpring Creek Township36 miFox Township33 miSandy Township32 miHorton Township29 miSnyder Township27 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Horton Township | 35% | 0.5 | 68 | 16% | B+ |
| Ridgway Township | 68% | 0.5 | 46 | 13% | B+ |
| Snyder Township | 31% | 0.7 | 7 | 26% | B |
| Fox Township | 26% | 0.5 | 27 | 24% | B+ |
| Huston Township | 66% | 1.2 | 1,568 | 46% | A |
| Sandy Township | 12% | 0.6 | 53 | 18% | B+ |
| Spring Creek Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Horton Township
Where can I hike in Horton Township?
The longest trail networks: State Game Lands Number 44, 8.8 miles; Moshannon State Forest, 0.9 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Horton Township is conserved land?
35% 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 Horton Township’s trails?
State Game Lands Number 44 and Moshannon State Forest don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Horton Township?
169,440 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Horton Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 12,400 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Horton Township have?
Ahead of 74% 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 Horton 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 →