Codorus State Park
Managed by Pennsylvania Bureau of State Parks
390 acres14.5 mi of trail
A3282+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto Codorus Mountain Bike Parking AreaWebsite ↗
AOutdoors
Outdoors in Penn Township
Penn Township has 18 miles of mapped trails, 1.3 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: Codorus State Park (14.5 mi). 8% of Penn Township’s land is conserved, about 676 acres. 488 acres are parks and preserves, 27 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 87% of U.S. towns · #190 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Conserved land
8%
676 acres · of 13.0 sq mi of land
Trails
18 mi
1.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
488 ac
27 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
83%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Penn Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Penn Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Penn Township is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns, #190 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; trail miles rank highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Penn Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land8% of the land · typical PA town 8% · U.S. 4%B+Trails1.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (18 mi) · PA 0.4 · U.S. 0.4APark land27 acres of park per 1,000 residents (488 acres) · PA 14 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home83% of residents within a half mile of a park · PA 73% · U.S. 72%B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 87%
LessMore
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,037)Ahead of 82%
Pennsylvania towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 8%; the U.S., 4%), so Penn Township’s 8% is ahead of 50% of Pennsylvania towns, while its trails per square mile lead 85% 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 Codorus State Park, with 14.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Kid's Kingdom Park
Park
26 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
676 conserved acres
8% of Penn Township’s land. Who manages Penn Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits805 ac
State parks390 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government84 ac
Not recorded389 ac
State Park · 779 acForest Stewardship Easement · 403 acConservation Easement · 402 acLocal Park · 61 acLocal Recreation Area · 23 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 203 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Codorus State Park State Park | State parks | 779 | Open |
| Tri-Township Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 41 | Open |
| Penn Township Community Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 20 | Open |
| Young's Woods Local Recreation Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 14 | Open |
| Grandview Recreation Area Local Recreation Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 2 | Open |
| Colonial Hills Recreation Area Local Recreation Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 2 | Open |
| Northview Recreation Area Local Recreation Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 2 | Open |
| Timberland Recreation Area (Forest Circle) Local Recreation Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 1 | Open |
| Little Knoll Recreation Area Local Recreation Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 1 | Open |
| Good Field Local Recreation Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 1 | Open |
Things to do
4 places to go in Penn Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Penn Township
Timber Land Playground
DirectionsPlus 3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
25 named trails
Named trails
Unpaved · 13.2 mi
A1.5 mi
30.8 mi
280.7 mi
20.6 mi
50.6 mi
140.5 mi
250.5 mi
A/20.5 mi
170.4 mi
40.4 mi
15 more trails
15
0.4 mi23
0.3 mi6
0.3 mi7
0.3 mi19
0.3 mi21
0.2 mi26
0.2 mi13
0.2 mi29
0.2 mi27
0.2 mi24
0.2 miA/28
0.2 mi11
0.2 mi9
0.2 mi10
0.1 miBiking & 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
8Baseball
8Soccer
8Tennis
1Running tracks
1Basketball
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Penn 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) | 39 | 43 | 51 | 64 | 73 | 82 | 86 | 84 | 77 | 66 | 54 | 44 |
| Rain (in) | 3.1 | 2.6 | 3.9 | 3.6 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.4 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 3.8 | 3.1 | 3.5 |
February is the driest month (2.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 86 °F). 4.7 inches fall in September, the wettest month. The climate in Penn Township →
Next door
Penn Township and its neighbors
Penn Township has the most mapped trails of the 7 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Penn Township18 miWest Manheim Township14 miBerwick Township4.2 miConewago Township3.1 miHeidelberg Township2.2 miHanover0.3 miParkville0.3 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penn Township | 8% | 1.3 | 27 | 83% | A |
| West Manheim Township | 25% | 0.7 | 261 | 62% | A |
| Hanover | 2% | 0.1 | 3 | 99% | C+ |
| Heidelberg Township | 11% | 0.2 | 234 | 39% | B+ |
| Berwick Township | 3% | 0.5 | under 1 | 10% | C− |
| Parkville | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Conewago Township | 16% | 0.3 | 15 | 54% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Penn Township
Where can I hike in Penn Township?
The longest trail networks: Codorus State Park, 14.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Penn Township is conserved land?
8% 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 Penn Township’s trails?
Codorus State Park and Kid's Kingdom Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Penn Township?
6,596 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Penn Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 488 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Penn Township have?
Ahead of 87% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #190 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 Penn 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 →