Peiffer Memorial Arboretum and Nature Preserve
Nature preserve
16 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Penndyl · CC BY-SA 4.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in New Cumberland
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in New Cumberland
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 59 acres are parks and preserves, 7.8 per 1,000 residents. 5% of New Cumberland’s land is conserved, about 49 acres.
Ahead of 67% of U.S. towns · #513 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
49 acres · of 1.7 sq mi of land
Trails
0.5 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
59 ac
7.8 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.7 mi
0.7 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is New Cumberland?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does New Cumberland have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, New Cumberland is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns, #513 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of New Cumberland’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical PA town 8% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · PA 0.4 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land7.8 acres of park per 1,000 residents (59 acres) · PA 14 · U.S. 13C+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 67%
LessMore
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,037)Ahead of 51%
Pennsylvania towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 8%; the U.S., 4%), so New Cumberland’s 5% is ahead of 33% of Pennsylvania towns, while its trails per square mile lead 40% 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 Peiffer Memorial Arboretum and Nature Preserve, with 0.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
New Cumberland Borough Park
Park
33 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Memorial Field
Park
6 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 8 parks & preserves
Peiffer Memorial Arboretum and Nature Preserve16 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
DirectionsNew Cumberland Borough Park33 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsMemorial Field6 acres
Will Cole Park5 acres
DirectionsBenjamin Property3 acres
DirectionsDrexel Hills Park2 acres
Riverside Park1 acres · Borough of New Cumberland
DirectionsSherwood Park1 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
49 conserved acres
5% of New Cumberland’s land. Who manages New Cumberland’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Other or Unknown Local Government49 ac
Local Park · 44 acLocal Recreation Area · 5 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Cumberland Borough Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 36 | Open |
| Memorial Field Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 6 | Open |
| Twelfth Street Ball Fields Local Recreation Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 5 | Open |
| Drexel Hills Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 2 | Open |
| Sherwood Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 1 | Open |
Things to do
10 places to go in New Cumberland
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in New Cumberland
9 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in New Cumberland
New Cumberland Borough Park AccessIn New Cumberland Borough Park
DirectionsTrails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.7 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.7 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
10Baseball
5Basketball
5Pickleball
1Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
William Black HomesteadBuilding · listed 1977
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in New Cumberland: 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) | 38 | 41 | 51 | 63 | 73 | 82 | 86 | 84 | 77 | 65 | 53 | 43 |
| Rain (in) | 3.0 | 2.6 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 3.8 | 4.1 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 4.4 | 3.9 | 3.1 | 3.4 |
February is the driest month (2.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 86 °F). 4.4 inches fall in September, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 86 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in New Cumberland →
Next door
New Cumberland and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Harrisburg9.1 miLower Allen Township7.8 miSwatara Township2.1 miFairview Township1.8 miLemoyne0.9 miNew Cumberland0.5 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Cumberland | 5% | 0.3 | 8 | 99%+ | B+ |
| Lower Allen Township | 4% | 0.8 | 9 | 77% | B |
| Fairview Township | 2% | 0.1 | 8 | 41% | C− |
| Swatara Township | 5% | 0.2 | 7 | 80% | B− |
| Lemoyne | 4% | 0.6 | 10 | 99%+ | A− |
| Harrisburg | 12% | 1.1 | 14 | 99%+ | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in New Cumberland
Where can I hike in New Cumberland?
The longest trail networks: Peiffer Memorial Arboretum and Nature Preserve, 0.3 miles; New Cumberland Borough Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of New Cumberland is conserved land?
5% 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 New Cumberland’s trails?
Peiffer Memorial Arboretum and Nature Preserve and New Cumberland Borough Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in New Cumberland?
0.7 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.7 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near New Cumberland?
12,519 acres of parks and open public land lie inside New Cumberland or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 59 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does New Cumberland have?
Ahead of 67% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #513 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 New Cumberland 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 →