Pleasant Grove School · Photo: Smallbones · CC017% of Mount Joy Township’s land is conserved: 2,771 acres
24% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 17 acres are parks and preserves, 4.4 per 1,000 residents. 6.4 miles of mapped trail cross Mount Joy Township, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 42% of U.S. towns · #838 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Mount Joy Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Mount Joy Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Mount Joy Township is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns, #838 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
Pennsylvania towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 8%; the U.S., 4%), so Mount Joy Township’s 17% is ahead of 74% of Pennsylvania towns, while its trails per square mile lead 36% of them.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
2,771 conserved acres
17% of Mount Joy Township’s land. Who manages Mount Joy Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 2,541 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yingling Private Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 67 | Closed |
| Straley Private Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 60 | Closed |
| Zeigler Private Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 52 | Closed |
| Hartlaub Tract Acquisition Local Other or Unknown | Other or Unknown Local Government | 48 | Open |
| Gettysburg National Military Park Historic or Cultural Area | National Park Service | 35 | Restricted |
| Lake Heritage Recreation Local Recreation Area | Private owners | 1 | Open |
4 places to go in Mount Joy Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
1 boat launch without a name on the map.
3 lakes & rivers
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
3 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 5 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
The best walking months in Mount Joy 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 | 52 | 64 | 74 | 82 | 87 | 85 | 78 | 66 | 54 | 44 |
| Rain (in) | 3.3 | 2.6 | 3.8 | 3.7 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 3.5 | 4.8 | 3.9 | 3.3 | 3.6 |
February is the driest month (2.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 4.8 inches fall in September, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Mount Joy Township →
Mount Joy Township and its neighbors
Mount Joy Township has the second most mapped trails of the 4 towns around it. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Joy Township | 17% | 0.2 | 4 | 24% | C+ |
| Cumberland Township | 33% | 0.5 | under 1 | 18% | B− |
| Mount Pleasant Township | 19% | 0.2 | 1 | 12% | C |
| Straban Township | 6% | 0.1 | 3 | 5% | C− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Mount Joy Township
How much of Mount Joy Township is conserved land?
17% 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.
Is there public land near Mount Joy Township?
4,534 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Mount Joy Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 18 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Mount Joy Township have?
Ahead of 42% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #838 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 Mount Joy Township neighbors.
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 →