Shawnee State Fishing Lake and Wildlife Area
Managed by Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks
589 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Menoken Township
Menoken Township has 594 acres of parks, 355 for every 1,000 residents
2% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 4.1 miles of mapped trail cross Menoken Township, 0.1 per square mile of land. 2% of Menoken Township’s land is conserved, about 672 acres.
Ahead of 39% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
672 acres · of 44.4 sq mi of land
Trails
4.1 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
594 ac
355 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
2%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
3
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Menoken Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Menoken Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Menoken Township is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Menoken Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical KS town 2% · U.S. 4%C+Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (4 mi) · KS 0.2 · U.S. 0.4CPark land355 acres of park per 1,000 residents (594 acres) · KS 13 · U.S. 13AParks close to home2% of residents within a half mile of a park · KS 76% · U.S. 72%D
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 39%
LessMore
Few Kansas towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Menoken Township’s 2% is ahead of 55% of Kansas towns, while its trails per square mile lead 27% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C− 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
672 conserved acres
2% of Menoken Township’s land. Who manages Menoken Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Other state land587 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)86 ac
State Recreation Area · 587 acConservation Easement · 86 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 86 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shawnee State Fishing Lake State Recreation Area | Other state land | 587 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Menoken Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in Menoken Township
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
3 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
When to get out
The walking year in Menoken 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) | 9.7 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 14.9 | 14.7 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 39 | 45 | 56 | 67 | 76 | 85 | 90 | 89 | 80 | 68 | 54 | 43 |
| Rain (in) | 0.8 | 1.2 | 2.2 | 3.7 | 5.1 | 5.0 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 3.5 | 2.8 | 1.9 | 1.4 |
January is the driest month (0.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 90 °F). 5.1 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 90 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Menoken Township →
Next door
Menoken Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Topeka72 miSoldier Township11 miMenoken Township4.1 miMission Township3.4 miGrove Township2.2 miSilver Lake Township0.2 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Menoken Township | 2% | 0.1 | 355 | 2% | C+ |
| Silver Lake Township | under 1% | under 0.1 | 2 | 44% | D |
| Soldier Township | under 1% | 0.2 | 8 | 7% | C− |
| Grove Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Mission Township | under 1% | 0.1 | 2 | 20% | D |
| Topeka | 5% | 1.2 | 23 | 88% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Menoken Township
How much of Menoken Township is conserved land?
2% 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 Menoken Township’s trails?
Shawnee State Fishing Lake and Wildlife Area doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Menoken Township?
4,421 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Menoken Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 594 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Menoken Township have?
Ahead of 39% 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 Menoken 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 →