State Game Lands Number 258
Managed by Pennsylvania Game Commission
320 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Jakec · CC BY-SA 4.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Upper Paxton Township
18% of Upper Paxton Township’s land is conserved: 2,900 acres
15 miles of mapped trail cross Upper Paxton Township, 0.6 per square mile of land. 37% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 60 acres are parks and preserves, 15 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 67% of U.S. towns · #530 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Conserved land
18%
2,900 acres · of 25.9 sq mi of land
Trails
15 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
60 ac
15 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
37%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.1 mi
2.1 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
3
What kind of outdoors town is Upper Paxton Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Upper Paxton Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Upper Paxton Township is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns, #530 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 Upper Paxton Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land18% of the land · typical PA town 8% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (15 mi) · PA 0.4 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land15 acres of park per 1,000 residents (60 acres) · PA 14 · U.S. 13BParks close to home37% 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 67%
LessMore
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,037)Ahead of 49%
Pennsylvania towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 8%; the U.S., 4%), so Upper Paxton Township’s 18% is ahead of 75% of Pennsylvania towns, while its trails per square mile lead 60% of them.
Water is 17% of Upper Paxton Township’s area (5 of 31 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 15%.
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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Wiconisco Recreation Area
Park
13 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
MYO Park
Park
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
2,900 conserved acres
18% of Upper Paxton Township’s land. Water is left out: Upper Paxton Township has 25.9 square miles of land and 5.3 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Upper Paxton Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County8,552 ac
State fish & wildlife309 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits238 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)235 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government19 ac
Not recorded534 ac
Agricultural Easement · 8,787 acPrivate Historic or Cultural · 369 acState Resource Management Area · 309 acPrivate Recreation or Education · 238 acResearch or Educational Area · 131 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 2,167 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 114 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ned Smith Center Private Historic or Cultural | Not recorded | 738 | Open |
| State Game Land 258 State Resource Management Area | State fish & wildlife | 296 | Open |
| Wiconisco Creek Local Park | Not recorded | 34 | Unknown |
| Wiconsico Creek Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 18 | Open |
| State Game Land 264 State Resource Management Area | State fish & wildlife | 13 | Open |
| Brown Bradenbaugh Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 1 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Upper Paxton Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Campgrounds in Upper Paxton Township
River Mile 101 CampsiteSusquehanna River Trail Association
DirectionsRiver Mile 97 CampsiteSusquehanna River Trail Association
DirectionsTrails & water
14 named trails and 3 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 1.2 miHorses · 1.2 miUnpaved · 0.9 mi
Berry's Mountain Trail1.2 mi
Deer Run Traill0.9 mi
Mountain Laurel Trail0.8 mi
Holly/Locust Loop0.6 mi
Hemlock Trail0.4 mi
Ned's Trail0.4 mi
Holly Loop0.4 mi
Tanager Trail0.4 mi
Bridge Trail0.4 mi
Drumming Log Trail0.3 mi
4 more trails
McCoy's Trail
0.3 miLenker Trail
0.3 miJack's Trail
0.2 miLocust Loop
0.1 miLakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
2.1 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.1 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Millersburg FerrySite · listed 2006
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Upper Paxton 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) | 37 | 40 | 49 | 62 | 72 | 80 | 85 | 83 | 76 | 64 | 52 | 41 |
| Rain (in) | 3.1 | 2.5 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 4.0 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 4.5 | 3.9 | 3.1 | 3.3 |
February is the driest month (2.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 4.5 inches fall in September, the wettest month. The climate in Upper Paxton Township →
Next door
Upper Paxton Township and its neighbors
Upper Paxton Township has the second most mapped trails of the 8 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Jackson Township57 miUpper Paxton Township15 miHalifax Township14 miLower Mahanoy Township2.2 miBuffalo Township2.2 miMifflin Township1.6 miWashington Township0.9 miLiverpool Township0.2 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Paxton Township | 18% | 0.6 | 15 | 37% | B+ |
| Lower Mahanoy Township | 3% | 0.1 | 45 | 5% | C+ |
| Liverpool Township | 17% | under 0.1 | under 1 | under 1% | C− |
| Buffalo Township | 6% | 0.1 | under 1 | under 1% | D |
| Halifax Township | 14% | 0.5 | 54 | 12% | B+ |
| Mifflin Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Washington Township | 14% | 0.1 | 5 | 14% | C |
| Jackson Township | 39% | 1.4 | 21 | under 1% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Upper Paxton Township
How much of Upper Paxton Township is conserved land?
18% 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 Paxton Township’s trails?
State Game Lands Number 258 and Wiconisco Recreation Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Upper Paxton Township?
2.1 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.1 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Upper Paxton Township?
40,860 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Upper Paxton Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 503 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Upper Paxton Township have?
Ahead of 67% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #530 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 Paxton 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 →