State Game Lands Number 42
Managed by Pennsylvania Game Commission
625 acres5.2 mi of trail
Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Nyttend · Public domainB+Outdoors
Outdoors in Upper Yoder Township
15% of Upper Yoder Township’s land is conserved: 1,150 acres
14 miles of mapped trail cross Upper Yoder Township, 1.2 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: State Game Lands Number 42 (5.2 mi). 45% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 75% of U.S. towns · #391 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Conserved land
15%
1,150 acres · of 11.7 sq mi of land
Trails
14 mi
1.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
73 ac
14 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
45%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.4 mi
0.4 mi lanes
What kind of outdoors town is Upper Yoder Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Upper Yoder Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Upper Yoder Township is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns, #391 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 Yoder Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land15% of the land · typical PA town 8% · U.S. 4%A−Trails1.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (14 mi) · PA 0.4 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land14 acres of park per 1,000 residents (73 acres) · PA 14 · U.S. 13BParks close to home45% 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 75%
LessMore
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,037)Ahead of 62%
Pennsylvania towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 8%; the U.S., 4%), so Upper Yoder Township’s 15% is ahead of 72% of Pennsylvania towns, while its trails per square mile lead 83% of them.
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 State Game Lands Number 42, with 5.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Laurel Ridge State Park
Managed by Pennsylvania Bureau of State Parks
8 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
1,150 conserved acres
15% of Upper Yoder Township’s land. Who manages Upper Yoder Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits1,656 ac
State fish & wildlife626 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government64 ac
State parks9 ac
Forest Stewardship Easement · 846 acConservation Easement · 807 acState Resource Management Area · 626 acLocal Park · 64 acState Park · 9 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 451 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Game Land 042 State Resource Management Area | State fish & wildlife | 626 | Open |
| The Ridge Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 62 | Open |
| Laurel Ridge State Park State Park | State parks | 9 | Open |
| Elim Street Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 2 | Open |
Trails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Open to bikes · 0.9 miHorses · 0.9 miUnpaved · 1.3 mi
Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail1.3 mi
Biking & sports
0.4 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.4 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
Courts & fields
3Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Upper Yoder Township: April, May 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 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.9 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 35 | 38 | 47 | 60 | 70 | 77 | 81 | 79 | 73 | 62 | 49 | 39 |
| Rain (in) | 3.9 | 3.3 | 4.1 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 3.7 | 3.6 | 4.0 |
February is the driest month (3.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 4.9 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Upper Yoder Township →
Next door
Upper Yoder Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Lower Yoder Township42 miFairfield Township40 miConemaugh Township17 miUpper Yoder Township14 miJohnstown4.5 miWestmont2.2 miSouthmont0.0 miFerndale0.0 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Yoder Township | 15% | 1.2 | 14 | 45% | B+ |
| Fairfield Township | 11% | 0.7 | 438 | 8% | B+ |
| Southmont | 1% | under 0.1 | 4 | 99%+ | C |
| Johnstown | 2% | 0.8 | 3 | 96% | B− |
| Ferndale | 3% | under 0.1 | 6 | 99%+ | C+ |
| Westmont | 11% | 0.9 | 57 | 92% | A |
| Lower Yoder Township | 59% | 3.2 | 1,478 | 84% | A+ |
| Conemaugh Township | 5% | 0.4 | 185 | 8% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Upper Yoder Township
Where can I hike in Upper Yoder Township?
The longest trail networks: State Game Lands Number 42, 5.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Upper Yoder Township is conserved land?
15% 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 Yoder Township’s trails?
State Game Lands Number 42 and Laurel Ridge State Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Upper Yoder Township?
0.4 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.4 of painted or protected lanes.
Is there public land near Upper Yoder Township?
42,974 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Upper Yoder Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 310 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Upper Yoder Township have?
Ahead of 75% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #391 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 Yoder 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 →