Benedictine Bottoms Wildlife Area
Managed by Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks
2,077 acres8.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Shannon Township
Shannon Township has 267 acres of parks, 214 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Benedictine Bottoms Wildlife Area (8.5 mi), Atchison State Fishing Lake and Wildlife Area (0.8 mi). 32% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 13 miles of mapped trail cross Shannon Township, 0.3 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 46% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
266 acres · of 52.3 sq mi of land
Trails
13 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
267 ac
214 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
32%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.9 mi
1.9 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
3
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Shannon Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Shannon Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Shannon Township is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Shannon Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical KS town 2% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (13 mi) · KS 0.2 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land214 acres of park per 1,000 residents (267 acres) · KS 13 · U.S. 13AParks close to home32% 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 46%
LessMore
Few Kansas towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Shannon Township’s 1% is ahead of 29% of Kansas towns, while its trails per square mile lead 52% 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
The longest trail network is Benedictine Bottoms Wildlife Area, with 8.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Atchison State Fishing Lake and Wildlife Area
Managed by Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks
239 acres0.8 mi of trail
Fishing Access Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Warnock Lake Park
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Atchison Recreation Sports Complex
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
266 conserved acres
1% of Shannon Township’s land. Who manages Shannon Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State fish & wildlife207 ac
Other state land41 ac
Town or city19 ac
State Recreation Area · 248 acLocal Recreation Area · 19 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atchison State Fishing Lake And Wildlife Area State Recreation Area | State fish & wildlife | 207 | Open |
| Atchison State Fishing Lake State Recreation Area | Other state land | 41 | Open |
| Warnock Lake Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 19 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Shannon Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Shannon Township
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in Shannon Township
1 boat launch without a name on the map.
Trails & water
1 named trail and 3 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 0.6 mi
Fishing Access Trail0.6 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
1.9 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.9 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
April is the best month for walking in Shannon 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 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 15.0 | 14.7 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 37 | 43 | 55 | 66 | 75 | 84 | 88 | 87 | 79 | 67 | 53 | 41 |
| Rain (in) | 0.9 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 3.7 | 5.0 | 4.9 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 3.6 | 3.1 | 1.9 | 1.4 |
January is the driest month (0.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 88 °F). 5.0 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 88 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Shannon Township →
Next door
Shannon Township and its neighbors
Shannon Township has the most mapped trails of the 5 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Shannon Township13 miWayne Township6.0 miAtchison4.0 miIndependence Township1.3 miLancaster Township1.0 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shannon Township | 1% | 0.3 | 214 | 32% | B− |
| Atchison | 6% | 0.5 | 35 | 85% | A− |
| Wayne Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Independence Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Lancaster 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 Shannon Township
Where can I hike in Shannon Township?
The longest trail networks: Benedictine Bottoms Wildlife Area, 8.5 miles; Atchison State Fishing Lake and Wildlife Area, 0.8 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Shannon Township is conserved land?
1% 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 Shannon Township’s trails?
Benedictine Bottoms Wildlife Area and Atchison State Fishing Lake and Wildlife Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Shannon Township?
1.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.9 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Shannon Township?
896 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Shannon Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 267 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Shannon Township have?
Ahead of 46% 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 Shannon 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 →