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Summit HotelSummit Hotel · Photo: Acroterion · CC BY-SA 4.0
B+Outdoors
Outdoors in North Union Township

12% of North Union Township’s land is conserved: 2,884 acres

31 miles of mapped trail cross North Union Township, 0.8 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: State Game Lands Number 51 (21.1 mi), Fort Necessity National Battlefield (0.6 mi). 47% of residents live within a half mile of a park.

Ahead of 69% of U.S. towns · #492 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. What drives it

Conserved land
12%
2,884 acres · of 38.8 sq mi of land
Trails
31 mi
0.8 per sq mi of land
Park land
157 ac
14 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
47%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
2,638 ft
Fulton Knob

What kind of outdoors town is North Union Township?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Land that stays wild12% of the land is conserved; a typical Pennsylvania town, 8%.A trail town0.8 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 75% of U.S. towns.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does North Union Township have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, North Union Township is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns, #492 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.

B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of North Union Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land12% of the land · typical PA town 8% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.8 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (31 mi) · PA 0.4 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land14 acres of park per 1,000 residents (157 acres) · PA 14 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to home47% 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 69%
LessMore
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,037)Ahead of 53%

Pennsylvania towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 8%; the U.S., 4%), so North Union Township’s 12% is ahead of 63% of Pennsylvania towns, while its trails per square mile lead 71% 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.

1234
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 51, with 21.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

State Game Lands Number 51

Managed by Pennsylvania Game Commission
2,383 acres21.1 mi of trail
Glade Run TrailRock Run TrailProxy Rocks TrailTopo Map Road Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Fort Necessity National Battlefield

Managed by National Park Service
28 acres0.6 mi of trail
Jumonville Glen Loop TrailJumonville Glen Spur Trail
Dogs usually limited
Directionsto Jumonville GlenWebsite ↗

Lemont Sportsmans club

Park
28 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

Oliver Park

Park
14 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 10 parks & preserves
State Game Lands Number 512,383 acres · 21.1 mi of trail · Pennsylvania Game Commission
Directions
Fort Necessity National Battlefield28 acres · 0.6 mi of trail · National Park Service
Directions
Lemont Sportsmans club28 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
Oliver Park14 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Forbes State Forest276 acres · Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry
Directions
Shady Grove Park18 acres
Jumonville Park9 acres
Mount Braddock field5 acres
Saint Cecilias Park3 acres
Ferguson Park2 acres
Who protects it

2,884 conserved acres

12% of North Union Township’s land. Who manages North Union Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

State fish & wildlife2,383 ac
County442 ac
State natural resources267 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government82 ac
National Park Service27 ac
Town or city16 ac
Not recorded6 ac
State Resource Management Area · 2,650 acAgricultural Easement · 435 acLocal Park · 75 acLocal Recreation Area · 36 acHistoric or Cultural Area · 27 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 109 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 4 of 25 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
State Game Land 051
State Resource Management Area
State fish & wildlife2,383Open
Forbes State Forest
State Resource Management Area
State natural resources267Open
Fort Necessity National Battlefield
Historic or Cultural Area
National Park Service27Restricted
Shady Grove Park
Local Park
Other or Unknown Local Government23Open
St Cecilias Park
Local Park
Not recorded23Unknown
Uniontown Ballfield
Local Recreation Area
Other or Unknown Local Government16Open
Eberly Park
Local Park
Town or city16Open
Jumonville Ballfield
Local Recreation Area
Other or Unknown Local Government11Open
Ainsley Road Ballfield
Local Recreation Area
Other or Unknown Local Government6Open
Phillips Ballfield
Local Recreation Area
Other or Unknown Local Government4Open

5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.

Things to do

4 places to go in North Union Township

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Peaks in North Union Township
Fulton Knob2,638 ft elevation
Directions

Plus 2 peaks without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.

Trails & water

25 named trails

Named trails
Open to bikes · 12.4 miUnpaved · 8.9 mi
Glade Run Trail1.4 mi
Rock Run Trail1.3 mi
Proxy Rocks Trail1.1 mi
Topo Map Road Trail0.9 mi
Wishy Rocks Trail0.8 mi
Blue Trail0.8 mi
Cap Rock Trail0.8 mi
Red Trail0.7 mi
Long Ridge Trail0.7 mi
Orange Trail0.6 mi
15 more trails
Dunbar Creek Trail
0.5 mi
Jumonville Glen Loop Trail
0.5 mi
Disc Golf Course
0.5 mi
Sunk Cost Trail
0.5 mi
Keira Connector Trail
0.5 mi
Mile 24 Trail
0.4 mi
Lower Pimo Rocks Trail
0.4 mi
Pimo Rocks Trail
0.4 mi
Half King Trail (Yellow)
0.4 mi
Fiona Rocks Trail
0.3 mi
Green Cathedral Trail
0.2 mi
Topo Map Road Trail; Rock Run Trail
0.2 mi
Gas Line Trail
0.2 mi
Yellow Trail
0.2 mi
Jumonville Glen Spur Trail
0.1 mi
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
3Baseball
2Basketball
2Beach volleyball
1Soccer
1Football
1Softball
1Volleyball

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

3 places on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).

History →
Springer FarmBuilding · listed 1982
About it
Oak Hill EstateBuilding · listed 1999
About it
Summit HotelDistrict · listed 2005
About it
When to get out

The best walking months in North Union Township: April 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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.610.611.813.214.415.014.713.712.411.19.99.3
High (°F)384251647381848377655343
Rain (in)3.53.03.73.94.54.74.54.03.83.33.23.6

February is the driest month (3.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.7 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in North Union Township →

Next door

North Union Township and its neighbors

Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Wharton Township87 miDunbar Township56 miNorth Union Township31 miSouth Union Township12 miMenallen Township3.6 miFranklin Township1.3 miOliver0.6 miUniontown0.4 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
North Union Township12%0.81447%B+
Uniontown1%0.2290%C+
Oliver— not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Dunbar Township32%0.910929%A−
Menallen Township3%0.27627%B−
Franklin Township1%under 0.11416%C−
South Union Township24%0.71164%A−
Wharton Township31%0.933725%A

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in North Union Township

Where can I hike in North Union Township?

The longest trail networks: State Game Lands Number 51, 21.1 miles; Fort Necessity National Battlefield, 0.6 miles; Lemont Sportsmans club, 0.4 miles; Oliver Park, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of North Union Township is conserved land?

12% 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 North Union Township’s trails?

State Game Lands Number 51 and Fort Necessity National Battlefield don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Is there public land near North Union Township?

69,848 acres of parks and open public land lie inside North Union Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 2,827 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does North Union Township have?

Ahead of 69% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #492 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 North Union Township neighbors.

Town Square →
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 →