Crow Island State Game Area
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
349 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
BOutdoors
Outdoors in Buena Vista Township
Buena Vista Township has 316 acres of parks, 42 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Crow Island State Game Area (0.5 mi). 50% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 11 miles of mapped trail cross Buena Vista Township, 0.3 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 56% of U.S. towns · #398 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
694 acres · of 35.5 sq mi of land
Trails
11 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
316 ac
42 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
50%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.0 mi
3.0 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Buena Vista Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Buena Vista Township is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns, #398 of 701 in Michigan. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Buena Vista Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (11 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land42 acres of park per 1,000 residents (316 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home50% 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 56%
LessMore
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 43%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B− 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 Crow Island State Game Area, with 0.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Lions Park
Managed by Buena Vista Charter Township;Buena Vista Lions Club
31 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Kueffner Park
Managed by Buena Vista Charter Township
17 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Town Green
Managed by Buena Vista Charter Township
3 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Who protects it
694 conserved acres
3% of Buena Vista Township’s land. Who manages Buena Vista Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Private owners377 ac
State fish & wildlife202 ac
Other state land148 ac
Town or city45 ac
Private Other or Unknown · 377 acState Conservation Area · 244 acConservation Easement · 106 acLocal Park · 45 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 37 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Utility Corridor Private Other or Unknown | Private owners | 377 | Open |
| Crow Island State Game Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 202 | Open |
| Forest Reserve State Conservation Area | Other state land | 42 | Open |
| City of Saginaw Park Local Park | Town or city | 26 | Open |
| Kueffner Park Local Park | Town or city | 19 | Open |
| Morley Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| Consumers Energy Private Other or Unknown | Private owners | 1 | Restricted |
Things to do
1 places to go in Buena Vista Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Buena Vista Township
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
3.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
3.0 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
4Basketball
3Baseball
3Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Buena Vista Township: 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) | 9.3 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 30 | 33 | 43 | 57 | 70 | 79 | 83 | 80 | 74 | 60 | 47 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 1.9 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 3.3 | 3.6 | 3.5 | 3.2 | 3.6 | 2.7 | 3.0 | 2.4 | 1.9 |
February is the driest month (1.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 3.6 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Buena Vista Township →
Next door
Buena Vista Township and its neighbors
Buena Vista Township has the most mapped trails of the 7 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Buena Vista Township11 miSaginaw8.6 miBridgeport Township6.1 miZilwaukee Township5.2 miPortsmouth Township3.4 miMerritt Township1.4 miZilwaukee0.3 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buena Vista Township | 3% | 0.3 | 42 | 50% | B |
| Saginaw | 7% | 0.5 | 28 | 76% | A− |
| Zilwaukee Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Bridgeport Township | 6% | 0.2 | 49 | 29% | B− |
| Zilwaukee | 16% | 0.1 | 104 | 99%+ | A |
| Merritt Township | 4% | under 0.1 | 136 | 9% | C+ |
| Portsmouth Township | 5% | 0.2 | 25 | 11% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Buena Vista Township
Where can I hike in Buena Vista Township?
The longest trail networks: Crow Island State Game Area, 0.5 miles; Town Green, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Buena Vista Township is conserved land?
3% 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 Buena Vista Township’s trails?
Crow Island State Game Area and Lions Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Buena Vista Township?
3.0 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.0 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Buena Vista Township?
15,986 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Buena Vista Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 316 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Buena Vista Township have?
Ahead of 56% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #398 of 701 in Michigan. 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 Buena Vista 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 →