Sand Hills State Park
Managed by Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks
1,035 acres15.1 mi of trail
Rolling Hills TrailWoodland TrailTallgrass TrailPrairie Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailheadWebsite ↗
B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Medora Township
Medora Township has 1,072 acres of parks, 922 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Sand Hills State Park (15.1 mi). 13% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 15 miles of mapped trail cross Medora Township, 0.5 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 66% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
6%
1,068 acres · of 29.8 sq mi of land
Trails
15 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
1,072 ac
922 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
13%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Medora Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Medora Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Medora Township is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Medora Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land6% of the land · typical KS town 2% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (15 mi) · KS 0.2 · U.S. 0.4BPark land922 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,072 acres) · KS 13 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home13% of residents within a half mile of a park · KS 76% · U.S. 72%C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 66%
LessMore
Few Kansas towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Medora Township’s 6% is ahead of 87% of Kansas 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 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 Sand Hills State Park, with 15.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
1,068 conserved acres
6% of Medora Township’s land. Who manages Medora Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State parks1,068 ac
State Park · 1,068 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sandhills State Park State Park | State parks | 1,068 | Open |
Trails & water
9 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 9.2 miHorses · 11.4 miUnpaved · 12.9 mi
Rolling Hills Trail4.7 mi
Woodland Trail2.2 mi
Tallgrass Trail2.2 mi
Prairie Trail2.0 mi
Connector1.1 mi
Bluestem Spur Trail1.1 mi
Cottonwood Trail0.7 mi
Dune Trail0.6 mi
Pond Trails0.5 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Ranson HotelBuilding · listed 2008
About itWhen to get out
April is the best month for walking in Medora 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) | 9.8 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.1 | 14.2 | 14.8 | 14.6 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| High (°F) | 43 | 48 | 58 | 68 | 77 | 88 | 93 | 91 | 83 | 70 | 56 | 45 |
| Rain (in) | 0.8 | 1.2 | 2.2 | 2.6 | 4.9 | 4.4 | 3.9 | 3.7 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 1.4 | 1.1 |
January is the driest month (0.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 93 °F). 4.9 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 93 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Medora Township →
Next door
Medora Township and its neighbors
Medora Township has the most mapped trails of the 3 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medora Township | 6% | 0.5 | 922 | 13% | B+ |
| Clay Township | under 1% | 0.2 | 59 | 10% | C |
| Reno Township | under 1% | 0.2 | 34 | 40% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Medora Township
Where can I hike in Medora Township?
The longest trail networks: Sand Hills State Park, 15.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Medora Township is conserved land?
6% of its land, against a typical 2% for a Kansas town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Medora Township’s trails?
Sand Hills State Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Medora Township?
2,182 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Medora Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,072 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Medora Township have?
Ahead of 66% 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 Medora 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 →