Beltzville State Park
Managed by Pennsylvania Bureau of State Parks
2,557 acres11 mi of trail
Preacher's Camp TrailCove Ridge TrailChristman TrailTrinity Gorge+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailheadWebsite ↗
Photo: Nicholas · CC BY 2.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Towamensing Township
35% of Towamensing Township’s land is conserved: 6,138 acres
The biggest trail networks: Beltzville State Park (11 mi), Bethlehem Authority Wild Creek (4.1 mi). 17 miles of mapped trail cross Towamensing Township, 0.6 per square mile of land. 31% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 70% of U.S. towns · #470 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Conserved land
35%
6,138 acres · of 27.1 sq mi of land
Trails
17 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
73 ac
16 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
31%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
4
2 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Towamensing Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Towamensing Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Towamensing Township is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns, #470 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 Towamensing Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land35% of the land · typical PA town 8% · U.S. 4%A+Trails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (17 mi) · PA 0.4 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land16 acres of park per 1,000 residents (73 acres) · PA 14 · U.S. 13BParks close to home31% 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 70%
LessMore
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,037)Ahead of 55%
Pennsylvania towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 8%; the U.S., 4%), so Towamensing Township’s 35% is ahead of 94% of Pennsylvania towns, while its trails per square mile lead 63% of them.
Water is 6% of Towamensing Township’s area (2 of 29 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 33%.
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 Beltzville State Park, with 11 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Bethlehem Authority Wild Creek
Nature preserve
2,842 acres4.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailhead
Who protects it
6,138 conserved acres
35% of Towamensing Township’s land. Water is left out: Towamensing Township has 27.1 square miles of land and 1.8 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Towamensing Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits8,690 ac
State parks5,121 ac
Army Corps of Engineers2,623 ac
Joint2,590 ac
County2,165 ac
Not recorded755 ac
Conservation Easement · 10,973 acState Park · 5,876 acRecreation Management Area · 2,623 acAgricultural Easement · 2,165 acUnknown Easement · 307 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 3,441 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 40 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beltzville State Park State Park | State parks | 5,876 | Open |
| Beltzville Recreation Area Recreation Management Area | Army Corps of Engineers | 2,623 | Open |
Things to do
6 places to go in Towamensing Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Towamensing Township
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in Towamensing Township
2 boat launches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Waterfalls in Towamensing Township
Wild Creek FallsIn Beltzville State Park
DirectionsCampgrounds in Towamensing Township
Don Laine CampgroundFee
DirectionsThe Woods LGBT Camping Resort
DirectionsTrails & water
8 named trails and 4 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 0.6 mi
Preacher's Camp Trail3.1 mi
Cove Ridge Trail2.3 mi
Christman Trail1.5 mi
Trinity Gorge1.1 mi
Pine Run Cove Trail0.6 mi
Falls Trail0.1 mi
La Montage0.1 mi
Wild Creek Trail0.1 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
1Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Towamensing Township: April and May
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) | 9.5 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.4 | 15.1 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 36 | 40 | 48 | 61 | 72 | 79 | 84 | 82 | 75 | 63 | 51 | 41 |
| Rain (in) | 3.6 | 2.9 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 4.0 | 5.1 | 5.1 | 4.9 | 5.2 | 4.5 | 3.7 | 4.2 |
February is the driest month (2.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 5.2 inches fall in September, the wettest month. The climate in Towamensing Township →
Next door
Towamensing Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Penn Forest Township75 miLower Towamensing Township18 miTowamensing Township17 miEldred Township7.2 miFranklin Township6.4 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Towamensing Township | 35% | 0.6 | 16 | 31% | B+ |
| Franklin Township | 14% | 0.4 | 10 | 49% | B |
| Lower Towamensing Township | 7% | 0.8 | 21 | 19% | B |
| Penn Forest Township | 42% | 1.0 | 277 | 34% | A |
| Eldred Township | 22% | 0.3 | 42 | 28% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Towamensing Township
Where can I hike in Towamensing Township?
The longest trail networks: Beltzville State Park, 11 miles; Bethlehem Authority Wild Creek, 4.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Towamensing Township is conserved land?
35% 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 Towamensing Township’s trails?
Beltzville State Park and Bethlehem Authority Wild Creek don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Towamensing Township?
60,082 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Towamensing Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 74 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Towamensing Township have?
Ahead of 70% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #470 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 Towamensing 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 →