Bonner Park
Park
56 acres2.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: User:Smallbones on English Wikipedia. · Public domainAOutdoors
Outdoors in Thornbury Township
Thornbury Township has 499 acres of parks, 72 for every 1,000 residents
9.2 miles of mapped trail cross Thornbury Township, 1.0 per square mile of land. 92% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 10% of Thornbury Township’s land is conserved, about 564 acres.
Ahead of 92% of U.S. towns · #105 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Conserved land
10%
564 acres · of 9.2 sq mi of land
Trails
9.2 mi
1.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
499 ac
72 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
92%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Thornbury Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Thornbury Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Thornbury Township is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns, #105 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; park acres per resident rank highest, conserved land lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Thornbury Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land10% of the land · typical PA town 8% · U.S. 4%A−Trails1.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (9 mi) · PA 0.4 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land72 acres of park per 1,000 residents (499 acres) · PA 14 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home92% of residents within a half mile of a park · PA 73% · U.S. 72%A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 92%
LessMore
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,037)Ahead of 90%
Pennsylvania towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 8%; the U.S., 4%), so Thornbury Township’s 10% is ahead of 56% of Pennsylvania towns, while its trails per square mile lead 77% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would still be 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 Bonner Park, with 2.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
564 conserved acres
10% of Thornbury Township’s land. Who manages Thornbury Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits453 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government285 ac
Not recorded357 ac
Conservation Easement · 453 acLocal Park · 399 acLocal Other or Unknown · 201 acLocal Recreation Area · 43 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 120 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 5 of 32 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| County Land Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 312 | Unknown |
| Municipal Land Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 201 | Open |
| Thornbury Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 45 | Open |
| Middletown Open Space Local Recreation Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 43 | Open |
| Palmer Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 21 | Open |
| Camp Sunshine Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 14 | Open |
| Thornton Road Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 4 | Open |
| Thornbury Township Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 2 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Thornbury Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Thornbury Township
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Disc golf in Thornbury Township
Thornbury Park Disc GolfWest Chester Area Disc Golf
DirectionsTrails & water
4 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 1.6 mi
Blue0.4 mi
Woods Edge Trail0.3 mi
Red0.2 mi
Yellow0.1 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
15Golf
10Tennis
10Basketball
3Baseball
3Football
2Soccer
1Field hockey
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →4 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Thornbury 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 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 40 | 43 | 51 | 64 | 73 | 82 | 86 | 85 | 78 | 66 | 55 | 45 |
| Rain (in) | 3.5 | 2.8 | 4.2 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 4.4 | 4.7 | 4.5 | 4.8 | 4.1 | 3.3 | 4.1 |
February is the driest month (2.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 86 °F). 4.8 inches fall in September, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 86 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Thornbury Township →
Next door
Thornbury Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Middletown Township43 miEdgmont Township24 miConcord Township16 miChadds Ford Township9.5 miThornbury Township9.2 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thornbury Township | 10% | 1.0 | 72 | 92% | A |
| Middletown Township | 19% | 3.2 | 97 | 98% | A+ |
| Edgmont Township | 44% | 2.5 | 537 | 88% | A+ |
| Concord Township | 11% | 1.2 | 39 | 83% | A |
| Chadds Ford Township | 31% | 1.1 | 61 | 66% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Thornbury Township
Where can I hike in Thornbury Township?
The longest trail networks: Bonner Park, 2.1 miles; Barrett's Meadow, 0.9 miles; Thornbury Park, 0.5 miles; Palmer Arboretum, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Thornbury Township is conserved land?
10% 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 Thornbury Township’s trails?
Bonner Park and Barrett's Meadow don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Thornbury Township?
24,931 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Thornbury Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 500 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Thornbury Township have?
Ahead of 92% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #105 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 Thornbury 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 →