Willow Slough Fish and Wildlife Area
Managed by Indiana Department of Natural Resources
5,465 acres6.7 mi of trail
County Road 500 West
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Beaver Township
22% of Beaver Township’s land is conserved: 5,682 acres
The biggest trail networks: Willow Slough Fish and Wildlife Area (6.7 mi), Sam Rice Park (0.5 mi). 12 acres are parks and preserves, 7.9 per 1,000 residents. 71% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 65% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
22%
5,682 acres · of 40.9 sq mi of land
Trails
14 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
12 ac
7.9 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
71%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
2
What kind of outdoors town is Beaver Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Beaver Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Beaver Township is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Beaver Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land22% of the land · typical IN town 2% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (14 mi) · IN 0.1 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land7.9 acres of park per 1,000 residents (12 acres) · IN 10 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home71% of residents within a half mile of a park · IN 51% · U.S. 72%B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 65%
LessMore
Few Indiana towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Beaver Township’s 22% is ahead of 98% of Indiana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 71% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to B+. 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 Willow Slough Fish and Wildlife Area, with 6.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Wetlands Reserve Program
Nature preserve
88 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Carlson Gamebird Habitat Area
Nature preserve
38 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 5 parks & preserves
Willow Slough Fish and Wildlife Area5,465 acres · 6.7 mi of trail · Indiana Department of Natural Resources
DirectionsSam Rice Park10 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
DirectionsRecher Park3 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsWetlands Reserve Program88 acres
Carlson Gamebird Habitat Area38 acres
Who protects it
5,682 conserved acres
22% of Beaver Township’s land. Who manages Beaver Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State fish & wildlife5,521 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)84 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits79 ac
State Conservation Area · 5,521 acConservation Easement · 84 acPrivate Conservation · 79 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 84 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Willow Slough Fish And Wildlife Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 5,283 | Restricted |
| Barnes (Bill) Nature Preserve State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 198 | Restricted |
| Kankakee Sands - Freter-Hauke-Rix Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 78 | Restricted |
| Carlson Gamebird Habitat Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 39 | Restricted |
| Grand Kankakee Marsh National Wildlife Refuge - Iroquois County Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 1 | Open |
Things to do
4 places to go in Beaver Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Beaver Township
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Campgrounds in Beaver Township
1 campground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
1 named trail and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 0.7 mi
County Road 500 West0.8 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
2Basketball
1Baseball
1Softball
1Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
September is the best month for walking in Beaver Township
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 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.1 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 33 | 37 | 49 | 62 | 73 | 82 | 84 | 83 | 78 | 65 | 50 | 38 |
| Rain (in) | 2.3 | 1.9 | 2.5 | 3.7 | 4.5 | 5.1 | 4.6 | 3.9 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 2.7 | 2.1 |
February is the driest month (1.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 5.1 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Beaver Township →
Next door
Beaver Township and its neighbors
Beaver Township has the second most mapped trails of the 6 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Beaverville Township23 miBeaver Township14 miMcClellan Township8.6 miWashington Township5.4 miColfax Township4.5 miJackson Township1.9 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beaver Township | 22% | 0.3 | 8 | 71% | B+ |
| McClellan Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Washington Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Jackson Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Colfax Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Beaver Township
Where can I hike in Beaver Township?
The longest trail networks: Willow Slough Fish and Wildlife Area, 6.7 miles; Sam Rice Park, 0.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Beaver Township is conserved land?
22% of its land, against a typical 2% for an Indiana town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Beaver Township’s trails?
Willow Slough Fish and Wildlife Area and Sam Rice Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Beaver Township?
3,952 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Beaver Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 12 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Beaver Township have?
Ahead of 65% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 Beaver 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 →