Glenroy Preserve
Managed by Oxford Area Foundation
351 acres7.7 mi of trail
Upper Octoraro Loop TrailTiger TrailBlackburn Run TrailBlack Trail One+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Smallbones at en.wikipedia · Public domainAOutdoors
Outdoors in Lower Oxford Township
38% of Lower Oxford Township’s land is conserved: 4,443 acres
728 acres are parks and preserves, 129 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Glenroy Preserve (7.7 mi). 14 miles of mapped trail cross Lower Oxford Township, 0.8 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 85% of U.S. towns · #229 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Conserved land
38%
4,443 acres · of 18.1 sq mi of land
Trails
14 mi
0.8 per sq mi of land
Park land
728 ac
129 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
36%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
2
What kind of outdoors town is Lower Oxford Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Lower Oxford Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Lower Oxford Township is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns, #229 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Lower Oxford Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land38% of the land · typical PA town 8% · U.S. 4%A+Trails0.8 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (14 mi) · PA 0.4 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land129 acres of park per 1,000 residents (728 acres) · PA 14 · U.S. 13AParks close to home36% 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 85%
LessMore
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,037)Ahead of 78%
Pennsylvania towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 8%; the U.S., 4%), so Lower Oxford Township’s 38% is ahead of 96% of Pennsylvania towns, while its trails per square mile lead 69% 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 Glenroy Preserve, with 7.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Octoraro Lake Watershed
Managed by Chester Water Authority
646 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
4,443 conserved acres
38% of Lower Oxford Township’s land. Who manages Lower Oxford Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County13,092 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits1,141 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government491 ac
Joint121 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)66 ac
Not recorded811 ac
Agricultural Easement · 13,241 acPrivate Conservation · 683 acConservation Easement · 609 acLocal Recreation Area · 486 acLocal Park · 475 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 3,607 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 3 of 239 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glenroy Farm Preserve Private Conservation | Not recorded | 682 | Open |
| Chester County Water Resources Authority Land Local Park | Not recorded | 470 | Unknown |
| East Branch Octoraro Creek Open Space Local Recreation Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 469 | Closed |
| L Oxford Building Open Space Local Recreation Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 17 | Open |
| Barnard Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 5 | Open |
| Octorara Creek Acquisition Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 2 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Lower Oxford Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Waterfalls in Lower Oxford Township
1 waterfall without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
6 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 0.7 mi
Upper Octoraro Loop Trail2.4 mi
Tiger Trail0.9 mi
Blackburn Run Trail0.7 mi
Black Trail One0.7 mi
Bamboo Hollow Trail0.5 mi
Black Trail Two0.2 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
6Tennis
1Baseball
1Softball
1Football
1Basketball
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 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Lower Oxford 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) | 40 | 43 | 51 | 64 | 73 | 81 | 86 | 84 | 77 | 66 | 55 | 44 |
| Rain (in) | 3.4 | 2.8 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 3.8 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 4.5 | 4.9 | 4.3 | 3.4 | 4.1 |
February is the driest month (2.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 86 °F). 4.9 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Lower Oxford Township →
Next door
Lower Oxford Township and its neighbors
Lower Oxford Township has the most mapped trails of the 7 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Lower Oxford Township14 miColerain Township7.2 miNew London Township1.4 miPenn Township1.2 miEast Nottingham Township0.6 miLittle Britain Township0.1 miOxford0.1 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Oxford Township | 38% | 0.8 | 129 | 36% | A |
| Colerain Township | 31% | 0.3 | 23 | 25% | B |
| Little Britain Township | 26% | under 0.1 | 27 | 23% | B− |
| Penn Township | 15% | 0.1 | 25 | 44% | B |
| Oxford | 3% | 0.1 | 1 | 92% | C |
| East Nottingham Township | 25% | under 0.1 | 7 | 18% | C+ |
| New London Township | 17% | 0.1 | 9 | 37% | B− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Lower Oxford Township
Where can I hike in Lower Oxford Township?
The longest trail networks: Glenroy Preserve, 7.7 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Lower Oxford Township is conserved land?
38% 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 Oxford Township’s trails?
Glenroy Preserve and Octoraro Lake Watershed don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Lower Oxford Township?
13,082 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Lower Oxford Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 728 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Lower Oxford Township have?
Ahead of 85% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #229 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 Oxford 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 →