Bluff Valley Park
Managed by City of Bessemer
57 acres0.6 mi of trail
Witt's EndOld School
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Bessemer
Bessemer has 62 acres of parks, 36 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Bluff Valley Park (0.6 mi). 82% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 2.4 miles of mapped trail cross Bessemer, 0.4 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 51% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
0 acres · of 5.5 sq mi of land
Trails
2.4 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
62 ac
36 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
82%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.2 mi
3.2 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Bessemer?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Bessemer have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Bessemer is ahead of 51% 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 Bessemer’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%DTrails0.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4BPark land36 acres of park per 1,000 residents (62 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home82% of residents within a half mile of a park · MI 50% · U.S. 72%B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 51%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ 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 Bluff Valley Park, with 0.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Barber Field Park
Managed by City of Bessemer
4 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Things to do
3 places to go in Bessemer
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Bessemer
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
2 named trails
Named trails
Witt's End0.3 mi
Old School0.2 mi
Biking & sports
3.2 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
3.2 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
2Basketball
2Baseball
1Softball
1Skate park
1Tennis
1Volleyball
1Football
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).
Gogebic County CourthouseBuilding · listed 1981
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Bessemer: May, August and September
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) | 21 | 25 | 37 | 49 | 64 | 73 | 77 | 75 | 67 | 53 | 37 | 26 |
| Rain (in) | 2.0 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 3.1 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 4.2 | 3.8 | 3.7 | 3.9 | 2.7 | 2.3 |
February is the driest month (1.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 77 °F). 4.2 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Bessemer →
Questions about parks and trails in Bessemer
Where can I hike in Bessemer?
The longest trail networks: Bluff Valley Park, 0.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Bessemer is conserved land?
under 1% 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 Bessemer’s trails?
Bluff Valley Park and Barber Field Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Bessemer?
3.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.2 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Bessemer?
62,403 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Bessemer or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 62 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Bessemer have?
Ahead of 51% 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 Bessemer 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 →