State Game Lands Number 303
Managed by Pennsylvania Game Commission
173 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Meadowcroft Rockshelter · Photo: Lee Paxton · CC BY-SA 4.0COutdoors
Outdoors in Jefferson Township
Jefferson Township has 6.3 miles of mapped trails, 0.3 for every square mile of land
10% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 1% of Jefferson Township’s land is conserved, about 182 acres. 11 acres are parks and preserves, 8.6 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 25% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
182 acres · of 22.6 sq mi of land
Trails
6.3 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
11 ac
8.6 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
10%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.7 mi
3.7 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Jefferson Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Jefferson Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Jefferson Township is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; trail miles come closest.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Jefferson Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical PA town 8% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (6 mi) · PA 0.4 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land8.6 acres of park per 1,000 residents (11 acres) · PA 14 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home10% 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 25%
LessMore
Pennsylvania towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 8%; the U.S., 4%), so Jefferson Township’s 1% is ahead of 8% of Pennsylvania towns, while its trails per square mile lead 38% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
182 conserved acres
1% of Jefferson Township’s land. Who manages Jefferson Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State fish & wildlife173 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government9 ac
State Resource Management Area · 173 acLocal Recreation Area · 9 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Game Land 303 State Resource Management Area | State fish & wildlife | 173 | Open |
| Panhandle Trail Local Recreation Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 9 | Open |
Trails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
T8030.8 mi
Biking & sports
3.7 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
3.7 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →3 places on the National Register, one a National Historic Landmark
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.
When to get out
The best walking months in Jefferson 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 | 15.0 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.9 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 36 | 40 | 49 | 62 | 72 | 80 | 83 | 82 | 76 | 64 | 51 | 41 |
| Rain (in) | 3.1 | 2.6 | 3.3 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 4.6 | 4.0 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 3.2 | 3.0 | 3.1 |
February is the driest month (2.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.6 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Jefferson Township →
Next door
Jefferson Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Hanover Township72 miSmith Township6.5 miJefferson Township6.3 miCross Creek Township5.7 miIndependence Township0.3 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson Township | 1% | 0.3 | 9 | 10% | C |
| Hanover Township | 14% | 1.5 | 1,544 | 28% | A |
| Independence Township | 6% | under 0.1 | 34 | 35% | C+ |
| Smith Township | 13% | 0.2 | 43 | 54% | B+ |
| Cross Creek Township | 12% | 0.2 | 809 | 16% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Jefferson Township
How much of Jefferson Township is conserved land?
1% 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 Jefferson Township’s trails?
State Game Lands Number 303 doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Jefferson Township?
3.7 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.7 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Jefferson Township?
25,477 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Jefferson Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 185 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Jefferson Township have?
Ahead of 25% 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 Jefferson 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 →