State Game Lands Number 97
Managed by Pennsylvania Game Commission
4,152 acres17.2 mi of trail
Mid-State Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Nyttend · Public domainCOutdoors
Outdoors in Monroe Township
15% of Monroe Township’s land is conserved: 8,484 acres
The biggest trail networks: State Game Lands Number 97 (17.2 mi), State Game Lands Number 49 (8.6 mi), Buchanan State Forest (1.9 mi). 64 miles of mapped trail cross Monroe Township, 0.7 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 35% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
15%
8,484 acres · of 87.3 sq mi of land
Trails
64 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Near a park
under 1%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
2,028 ft
The Lockings
Lakes & rivers
3
What kind of outdoors town is Monroe Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Monroe Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Monroe Township is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Monroe Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land15% of the land · typical PA town 8% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (64 mi) · PA 0.4 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land0.0 acres of park per 1,000 residents (0 acres) · PA 14 · U.S. 13DParks close to home0% of residents within a half mile of a park · PA 73% · U.S. 72%D−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 35%
LessMore
Pennsylvania towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 8%; the U.S., 4%), so Monroe Township’s 15% is ahead of 71% of Pennsylvania towns, while its trails per square mile lead 68% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B. 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 97, with 17.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
State Game Lands Number 49
Managed by Pennsylvania Game Commission
3,332 acres8.6 mi of trail
Browning Road T316
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Buchanan State Forest
Managed by Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry
713 acres1.9 mi of trail
ATV trailMid-State Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Who protects it
8,484 conserved acres
15% of Monroe Township’s land. Who manages Monroe Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State fish & wildlife7,791 ac
State natural resources713 ac
State Resource Management Area · 8,505 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Game Land 097 State Resource Management Area | State fish & wildlife | 4,460 | Open |
| State Game Land 049 State Resource Management Area | State fish & wildlife | 3,332 | Open |
| Buchanan State Forest State Resource Management Area | State natural resources | 713 | Open |
Things to do
4 places to go in Monroe Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Scenic views in Monroe Township
2 scenic views without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Peaks in Monroe Township
The Lockings2,028 ft elevation · In Buchanan State Forest
DirectionsPolish Mountain1,575 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
3 named trails and 3 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 1.4 miHorses · 2.2 miUnpaved · 19.7 mi
Mid-State Trail4.0 mi
Browning Road T3161.1 mi
ATV trail0.6 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
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Monroe Township: April, July 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) | 37 | 41 | 50 | 63 | 72 | 80 | 84 | 82 | 75 | 64 | 52 | 41 |
| Rain (in) | 2.8 | 2.4 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 3.8 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 3.2 | 3.0 | 3.3 |
February is the driest month (2.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.3 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Monroe Township →
Next door
Monroe Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Southampton Township151 miColerain Township87 miEast Providence Township65 miMonroe Township64 miBrush Creek Township41 miWest Providence Township32 miMann Township31 miUnion Township2.7 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monroe Township | 15% | 0.7 | under 1 | under 1% | C |
| West Providence Township | 5% | 0.8 | 12 | 22% | B− |
| Colerain Township | 17% | 2.1 | 174 | 3% | A− |
| Brush Creek Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| East Providence Township | 5% | 1.3 | under 1 | under 1% | C |
| Southampton Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Mann Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Union 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 Monroe Township
Where can I hike in Monroe Township?
The longest trail networks: State Game Lands Number 97, 17.2 miles; State Game Lands Number 49, 8.6 miles; Buchanan State Forest, 1.9 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Monroe Township is conserved land?
15% 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 Monroe Township’s trails?
State Game Lands Number 97 and State Game Lands Number 49 don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Monroe Township?
73,978 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Monroe Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 8,527 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Monroe Township have?
Ahead of 35% 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 Monroe 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 →