Swain Memorial Park
Park
4 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Dwight Burdette · CC BY 3.0C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Brooklyn
Brooklyn has 7 acres of parks, 5.8 for every 1,000 residents
88% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 4% of Brooklyn’s land is conserved, about 27 acres.
Ahead of 36% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
4%
27 acres · of 1.0 sq mi of land
Trails
0.0 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
7 ac
5.8 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
88%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Brooklyn?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Brooklyn have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Brooklyn is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Brooklyn’s overall grade.
Conserved land4% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4DPark land5.8 acres of park per 1,000 residents (7 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13CParks close to home88% 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 36%
LessMore
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Brooklyn. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on 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
27 conserved acres
4% of Brooklyn’s land. Who manages Brooklyn’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Private owners21 ac
Town or city6 ac
Private Park · 21 acLocal Park · 6 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heart of the Lakes Golf Course Private Park | Private owners | 21 | Restricted |
| Unknown Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Brooklyn
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Brooklyn
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Biking & sports
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Courts & fields
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Brooklyn: July 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) | 9.4 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.2 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 31 | 34 | 45 | 58 | 70 | 79 | 82 | 80 | 74 | 61 | 47 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 2.2 | 1.9 | 2.3 | 3.3 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 2.6 | 2.1 |
February is the driest month (1.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 3.8 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Brooklyn →
Questions about parks and trails in Brooklyn
How much of Brooklyn is conserved land?
4% 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 Brooklyn’s trails?
Swain Memorial Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Brooklyn?
11,357 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Brooklyn or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 7 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Brooklyn have?
Ahead of 36% 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 Brooklyn 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 →