Round Island Point Nature Preserve
Managed by Little Traverse Conservancy
641 acres1.8 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: ValerieWood · CC BY-SA 3.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Bay Mills Township
More than half of Bay Mills Township’s land is conserved: 74%
74% of Bay Mills Township’s land is conserved, about 30,870 acres. 666 acres are parks and preserves, 361 per 1,000 residents. 94 miles of mapped trail cross Bay Mills Township, 1.4 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 91% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
74%
30,870 acres · of 64.7 sq mi of land
Trails
94 mi
1.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
666 ac
361 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
35%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.0 mi
1.0 mi paths
Highest peak
968 ft
Mission Hill
Lakes & rivers
9
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Bay Mills Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Bay Mills Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Bay Mills Township is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Bay Mills Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land74% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%A+Trails1.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (94 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4APark land361 acres of park per 1,000 residents (666 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13AParks close to home35% of residents within a half mile of a park · MI 50% · U.S. 72%C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 91%
LessMore
Water is 34% of Bay Mills Township’s area (33 of 98 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 50%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− 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 Round Island Point Nature Preserve, with 1.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Iroquois Island Nature Preserve
Nature preserve
4 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
30,870 conserved acres
74% of Bay Mills Township’s land. Water is left out: Bay Mills Township has 64.7 square miles of land and 33.2 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Bay Mills Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Forest Service30,141 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits645 ac
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service168 ac
National Forest · 30,141 acState Conservation Area · 641 acFederal Other or Unknown · 168 acPrivate Conservation · 4 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 5 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hiawatha National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 30,141 | Open |
| Round Island Point State Conservation Area | Land trusts & nonprofits | 641 | Open |
| Pendills Creek National Fish Hatchery Federal Other or Unknown | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 168 | Restricted |
| Iroquois Island Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 4 | Unknown |
Things to do
7 places to go in Bay Mills Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in Bay Mills Township
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Peaks in Bay Mills Township
Mission Hill968 ft elevation
DirectionsPicnic areas in Bay Mills Township
Big Pines Picnic Area
DirectionsPlus 1 picnic area without a name on the map.
Campgrounds in Bay Mills Township
Trails & water
3 named trails and 9 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 13.2 mi
North Country Trail4.0 mi
West Trustee Row1.0 mi
South Parker Row0.2 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
1.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.0 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Point Iroquois Light StationBuilding · listed 1975
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Bay Mills Township: May to 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) | 9.0 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 15.0 | 15.8 | 15.5 | 14.2 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.3 | 8.6 |
| High (°F) | 23 | 25 | 34 | 46 | 60 | 69 | 74 | 74 | 66 | 53 | 40 | 30 |
| Rain (in) | 2.3 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 2.6 | 2.6 | 2.9 | 3.2 | 3.1 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 3.1 | 2.7 |
February is the driest month (1.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 74 °F). 4.2 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Bay Mills Township →
Next door
Bay Mills Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Whitefish Township458 miChippewa Township162 miSuperior Township119 miBay Mills Township94 miSoo Township21 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bay Mills Township | 74% | 1.4 | 361 | 35% | A |
| Superior Township | 59% | 1.2 | 88 | 14% | A− |
| Chippewa Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Whitefish Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Soo Township | 3% | 0.4 | 167 | 8% | B− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Bay Mills Township
Where can I hike in Bay Mills Township?
The longest trail networks: Round Island Point Nature Preserve, 1.8 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Bay Mills Township is conserved land?
74% of its land, against a typical 5% for a Michigan town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Bay Mills Township’s trails?
Round Island Point Nature Preserve and Iroquois Island Nature Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Bay Mills Township?
1.0 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.0 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Bay Mills Township?
163,990 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Bay Mills Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 31,005 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Bay Mills Township have?
Ahead of 91% 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 Bay Mills 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 →