Gwynedd Preserve
Managed by Natural Lands
209 acres4 mi of trail
Gwynedd Preserve Trails
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailheadWebsite ↗
Knipe-Johnson Farm · Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Upper Gwynedd Township
17% of Upper Gwynedd Township’s land is conserved, and 99% of residents live within a half mile of a park
17% of Upper Gwynedd Township’s land is conserved, about 868 acres. 8.5 miles of mapped trail cross Upper Gwynedd Township, 1.0 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Gwynedd Preserve (4 mi).
Ahead of 94% of U.S. towns · #74 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Conserved land
17%
868 acres · of 8.1 sq mi of land
Trails
8.5 mi
1.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
405 ac
24 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.3 mi
1.7 mi lanes · 1.6 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Upper Gwynedd Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Upper Gwynedd Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Upper Gwynedd Township is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #74 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park ranks highest, park acres per resident lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Upper Gwynedd Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land17% of the land · typical PA town 8% · U.S. 4%ATrails1.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (9 mi) · PA 0.4 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land24 acres of park per 1,000 residents (405 acres) · PA 14 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home99% 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 94%
LessMore
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,037)Ahead of 93%
Pennsylvania towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 8%; the U.S., 4%), so Upper Gwynedd Township’s 17% is ahead of 74% of Pennsylvania towns, while its trails per square mile lead 78% 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 Gwynedd Preserve, with 4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Whites Road Park and Pool
Park
31 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Jacks Lane Park
Park
14 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 10 parks & preserves
Gwynedd Preserve209 acres · 4 mi of trail · Natural Lands
DirectionsParkside Place Park42 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
DirectionsWhites Road Park and Pool31 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsDodsworth Run Preserve9 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · Wissahickon Trails
DirectionsGarfield Park7 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Jacks Lane Park14 acres
Hancock Street Park6 acres
Rexdale Park6 acres · Upper Gwynedd Township
West Point Park3 acres
Whittaker Place Park1 acres
Who protects it
868 conserved acres
17% of Upper Gwynedd Township’s land. Who manages Upper Gwynedd Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits1,145 ac
County948 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government218 ac
Not recorded377 ac
Agricultural Easement · 948 acConservation Easement · 654 acPrivate Conservation · 555 acUnknown Easement · 172 acLocal Park · 146 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 273 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 4 of 52 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gwynedd Wildlife Preserve Private Conservation | Not recorded | 415 | Open |
| Green Ribbon Preserve Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 108 | Open |
| Parkside Place Complex Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 91 | Open |
| Municipal Land Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 87 | Open |
| Upper Gwynedd Township Open Space Local Recreation Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 64 | Open |
| Dodsworth Run Preserve Private Conservation | Not recorded | 27 | Open |
| Whites Road Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 26 | Open |
| Rexdale Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 14 | Open |
| Wissahickon Trail Property Conservation Easement | Land trusts & nonprofits | 13 | Unknown |
| Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association Private Conservation | Not recorded | 11 | Unknown |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
15 places to go in Upper Gwynedd Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Upper Gwynedd Township
Nor-Gwyn PoolIn Parkside Place Park
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Upper Gwynedd Township
Corpus Christi School Playground
DirectionsSchool Playground
DirectionsPlus 11 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Community gardens in Upper Gwynedd Township
Prayer Garden
DirectionsTrails & water
6 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Horses · 2.3 miUnpaved · 7.3 mi
Gwynedd Preserve Trails3.8 mi
Green Ribbon Trail2.1 mi
Mill Race Trail0.5 mi
Fox Loop Connector0.1 mi
Clearview Forest Path0.1 mi
Hawk's Nest Trail0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
3.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.7 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
1.6 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
16Tennis
11Baseball
7Basketball
6Pickleball
4Soccer
2Football
1Softball
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 Upper Gwynedd 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 | 14.8 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 40 | 43 | 51 | 63 | 73 | 82 | 87 | 85 | 78 | 66 | 54 | 45 |
| Rain (in) | 3.5 | 2.8 | 4.2 | 3.9 | 4.1 | 4.3 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 4.5 | 4.2 | 3.3 | 4.4 |
February is the driest month (2.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 4.8 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Upper Gwynedd Township →
Next door
Upper Gwynedd Township and its neighbors
Upper Gwynedd Township has the second most mapped trails of the 5 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Lower Gwynedd Township17 miUpper Gwynedd Township8.5 miWorcester Township4.0 miTowamencin Township2.4 miLansdale0.7 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Gwynedd Township | 17% | 1.0 | 24 | 99% | A |
| Lansdale | 7% | 0.2 | 7 | 99% | B |
| Lower Gwynedd Township | 11% | 1.8 | 37 | 97% | A+ |
| Worcester Township | 13% | 0.2 | 49 | 87% | A− |
| Towamencin Township | 14% | 0.2 | 32 | 91% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Upper Gwynedd Township
Where can I hike in Upper Gwynedd Township?
The longest trail networks: Gwynedd Preserve, 4 miles; Parkside Place Park, 0.3 miles; Whites Road Park and Pool, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Upper Gwynedd Township is conserved land?
17% 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 Upper Gwynedd Township’s trails?
Gwynedd Preserve and Parkside Place Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Upper Gwynedd Township?
3.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.7 of painted or protected lanes and 1.6 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Upper Gwynedd Township?
26,825 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Upper Gwynedd Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 616 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Upper Gwynedd Township have?
Ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #74 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 Upper Gwynedd 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 →