Lykens Glen Park
Managed by Dauphin County
12 acres0.2 mi of trail
No dogs
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Hotel Lykens · Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ, M.D. · CC BY-SA 4.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Lykens
6% of Lykens’ land is conserved, and virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 51 acres are parks and preserves, 27 per 1,000 residents. 0.7 miles of mapped trail cross Lykens, 0.6 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 88% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
6%
49 acres · of 1.2 sq mi of land
Trails
0.7 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
51 ac
27 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.1 mi
0.1 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
What kind of outdoors town is Lykens?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Lykens have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Lykens is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park ranks highest, conserved land lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Lykens’ overall grade.
Conserved land6% of the land · typical PA town 8% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · PA 0.4 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land27 acres of park per 1,000 residents (51 acres) · PA 14 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · PA 73% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 88%
LessMore
Pennsylvania towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 8%; the U.S., 4%), so Lykens’ 6% is ahead of 42% of Pennsylvania towns, while its trails per square mile lead 60% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− 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 Lykens Glen Park, with 0.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
West Borough Park
Park
7 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
49 conserved acres
6% of Lykens’ land. Who manages Lykens’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Other or Unknown Local Government23 ac
Not recorded26 ac
Local Park · 43 acLocal Recreation Area · 6 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 4 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lykens Glen Local Park | Not recorded | 26 | Unknown |
| Lykens Glen Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 11 | Open |
| West Borough Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 6 | Open |
| Machamer Ball Fields Local Recreation Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 6 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Lykens
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Lykens
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
2 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.1 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.1 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
2Basketball
2Softball
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
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The best walking months in Lykens: April to 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 | 15.1 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.9 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 34 | 37 | 46 | 59 | 69 | 77 | 82 | 80 | 73 | 61 | 49 | 39 |
| Rain (in) | 3.5 | 2.6 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 4.3 | 4.8 | 4.3 | 3.5 | 3.7 |
February is the driest month (2.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 4.8 inches fall in September, the wettest month. The climate in Lykens →
Next door
Lykens 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lykens | 6% | 0.6 | 27 | 99%+ | A |
| Wiconisco Township | 63% | 0.1 | 6 | 72% | B |
| Wiconsico | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Jackson Township | 39% | 1.4 | 21 | under 1% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Lykens
Where can I hike in Lykens?
The longest trail networks: Lykens Glen Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Lykens is conserved land?
6% 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 Lykens’ trails?
Lykens Glen Park and West Borough Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Lykens?
0.1 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.1 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Lykens?
61,078 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Lykens or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 51 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Lykens have?
Ahead of 88% 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 Lykens 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 →