Rothrock State Forest
Managed by Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry
465 acres1.1 mi of trail
Flat Road TrailStanding Stone Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Union Township
11% of Union Township’s land is conserved: 1,760 acres
The biggest trail networks: Rothrock State Forest (1.1 mi). 2.1 miles of mapped trail cross Union Township, 0.1 per square mile of land. 33% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 36% of U.S. towns · #891 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Conserved land
11%
1,760 acres · of 25.5 sq mi of land
Trails
2.1 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
22 ac
6.1 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
33%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Union Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Union Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Union Township is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns, #891 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. Conserved land holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Union Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land11% of the land · typical PA town 8% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · PA 0.4 · U.S. 0.4CPark land6.1 acres of park per 1,000 residents (22 acres) · PA 14 · U.S. 13CParks close to home33% 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 36%
LessMore
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,037)Ahead of 14%
Pennsylvania towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 8%; the U.S., 4%), so Union Township’s 11% is ahead of 59% of Pennsylvania towns, while its trails per square mile lead 17% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. 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 Rothrock State Forest, with 1.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
1,760 conserved acres
11% of Union Township’s land. Who manages Union Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County4,498 ac
State natural resources465 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)269 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits104 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government20 ac
Town or city2 ac
Not recorded1 ac
Agricultural Easement · 4,720 acState Resource Management Area · 465 acConservation Easement · 76 acForest Stewardship Easement · 76 acLocal Park · 20 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1,274 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rothrock State Forest State Resource Management Area | State natural resources | 465 | Open |
| Mifflin County Library Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 17 | Open |
| Little Kishacoquillas Restoration Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 5 | Open |
| Fema Flood Buyout (County Or Municipal Owned) Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 1 | Open |
Trails & water
2 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 0.9 miHorses · 0.9 miUnpaved · 2.0 mi
Flat Road Trail0.8 mi
Standing Stone Trail0.4 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
4Baseball
2Tennis
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Union Township: April to 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 | 15.1 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.9 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 36 | 40 | 49 | 62 | 72 | 80 | 84 | 82 | 75 | 64 | 51 | 40 |
| Rain (in) | 2.9 | 2.4 | 3.4 | 3.6 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.8 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 3.6 | 3.1 | 3.3 |
February is the driest month (2.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.3 inches fall in September, the wettest month. The climate in Union Township →
Next door
Union Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Jackson Township117 miBrown Township39 miGranville Township5.9 miOliver Township2.9 miMenno Township2.2 miUnion Township2.1 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Union Township | 11% | 0.1 | 6 | 33% | C+ |
| Jackson Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Granville Township | 10% | 0.1 | 6 | 28% | C+ |
| Brown Township | 31% | 1.2 | 6 | 21% | B |
| Menno Township | 5% | 0.1 | 3 | 11% | C− |
| Oliver Township | 5% | 0.1 | 3 | 5% | C− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Union Township
Where can I hike in Union Township?
The longest trail networks: Rothrock State Forest, 1.1 miles; Union Township Park, 0.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Union Township is conserved land?
11% 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 Union Township’s trails?
Rothrock State Forest and Union Township Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Union Township?
94,346 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Union Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 491 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Union Township have?
Ahead of 36% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #891 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 Union 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 →