Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust
Nature preserve
272 acres2.9 mi of trail
Raytharn TrailBethayres Woods TrailPeak TrailManagement Trail+1
No dogs
Directionsto the trailheadWebsite ↗
Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Lower Moreland Township
Lower Moreland Township has 6.5 miles of mapped trails, 0.9 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust (2.9 mi), Valley Center Park (1.1 mi), Lower Moreland Park (0.6 mi). 9% of Lower Moreland Township’s land is conserved, about 416 acres. 78% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 70% of U.S. towns · #467 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Conserved land
9%
416 acres · of 7.3 sq mi of land
Trails
6.5 mi
0.9 per sq mi of land
Park land
106 ac
7.5 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
78%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.2 mi
2.2 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Lower Moreland Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Lower Moreland Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Lower Moreland Township is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns, #467 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Lower Moreland Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land9% of the land · typical PA town 8% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.9 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (7 mi) · PA 0.4 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land7.5 acres of park per 1,000 residents (106 acres) · PA 14 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home78% 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 70%
LessMore
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,037)Ahead of 55%
Pennsylvania towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 8%; the U.S., 4%), so Lower Moreland Township’s 9% is ahead of 53% of Pennsylvania towns, while its trails per square mile lead 73% 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 Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust, with 2.9 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Lower Moreland Park
Park
20 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Ridgway Park
Park
9 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 7 parks & preserves
Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust272 acres · 2.9 mi of trail
DirectionsValley Center Park28 acres · 1.1 mi of trail
DirectionsLower Moreland Park20 acres · 0.6 mi of trail
Ridgway Park9 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Elkins Park7 acres
DirectionsPine Run Park2 acres
Roosevelt Racquet Club1 acres
Who protects it
416 conserved acres
9% of Lower Moreland Township’s land. Who manages Lower Moreland Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits975 ac
Joint97 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government85 ac
Not recorded242 ac
Agricultural Easement · 571 acPrivate Conservation · 461 acConservation Easement · 265 acLocal Park · 68 acLocal Recreation Area · 17 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 87 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 38 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust Property Private Conservation | Not recorded | 461 | Closed |
| Valley Center Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 27 | Open |
| Lower Moreland Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 23 | Open |
| Elkins Field Local Recreation Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 17 | Open |
| Ridgeway Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 9 | Open |
| Justa Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 9 | Open |
| Fema Flood Buyout (County Or Municipal Owned) Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 6 | Open |
| Municipal Land Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 5 | Open |
Things to do
8 places to go in Lower Moreland Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Lower Moreland Township
The Mitch Raisman Playground
DirectionsPlus 7 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
7 named trails
Named trails
Open to bikes · 0.5 miHorses · 1.3 miUnpaved · 1.5 mi
Raytharn Trail0.7 mi
Bethayres Woods Trail0.6 mi
Creek Road Trail0.5 mi
Paper Mill Woods Trail0.3 mi
Peak Trail0.3 mi
Management Trail0.3 mi
Paper Mill Road Trail0.2 mi
Biking & sports
2.2 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.2 mi
off-road bike paths
Creek TrailBike route
0.5 miCourts & fields
14Tennis
10Baseball
4Basketball
1Football
1Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →3 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 10 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Lower Moreland 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 | 14.8 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 41 | 44 | 52 | 64 | 73 | 82 | 87 | 85 | 78 | 66 | 55 | 45 |
| Rain (in) | 3.5 | 2.8 | 4.1 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 4.3 | 4.8 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.0 | 3.3 | 4.3 |
February is the driest month (2.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 4.8 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Lower Moreland Township →
Next door
Lower Moreland Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Philadelphia234 miAbington Township17 miUpper Moreland Township9.1 miLower Moreland Township6.5 miBryn Athyn6.2 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Moreland Township | 9% | 0.9 | 8 | 78% | B+ |
| Bryn Athyn | 32% | 3.2 | 32 | 99% | A+ |
| Upper Moreland Township | 9% | 1.1 | 11 | 98% | A− |
| Philadelphia | 15% | 1.7 | 7 | 99%+ | A |
| Abington Township | 8% | 1.1 | 14 | 96% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Lower Moreland Township
Where can I hike in Lower Moreland Township?
The longest trail networks: Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust, 2.9 miles; Valley Center Park, 1.1 miles; Lower Moreland Park, 0.6 miles; Ridgway Park, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Lower Moreland Township is conserved land?
9% 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 Lower Moreland Township’s trails?
Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust and Valley Center Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Lower Moreland Township?
2.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.2 of off-road paths. Named routes: Creek Trail.
Is there public land near Lower Moreland Township?
30,197 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Lower Moreland Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 106 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Lower Moreland Township have?
Ahead of 70% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #467 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 Lower Moreland 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 →