Lakeside Park
Park
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
C−Outdoors
Outdoors in Cato Township
Cato Township has 50 acres of parks, 17 for every 1,000 residents
1.6 miles of mapped trail cross Cato Township. 42% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 24% of U.S. towns · #618 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
46 acres · of 35.2 sq mi of land
Trails
1.6 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
50 ac
17 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
42%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
7
1 boat launch
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Cato Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Cato Township is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns, #618 of 701 in Michigan. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
C−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Cato Township’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%C−Trails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land17 acres of park per 1,000 residents (50 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13BParks close to home42% 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 24%
LessMore
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 12%
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Cato Township. 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 C. 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.
Tamarack Lake Public Access
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
2 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it
46 conserved acres
under 1% of Cato Township’s land. Who manages Cato Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Private owners41 ac
County4 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits1 ac
Private Park · 41 acLocal Park · 4 acConservation Easement · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1 acre is a conservation easement, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lakeview Sportsmen Club Private Park | Private owners | 41 | Open |
| Ford Lincoln County Park Local Park | County | 4 | Open |
Things to do
3 places to go in Cato Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Cato Township
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in Cato Township
Tamarack Lake Boat Launch
DirectionsCampgrounds in Cato Township
Camp Ford LincolnMontcalm County
DirectionsTrails & water
7 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
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
7Baseball
6Tennis
4Soccer
3Football
2Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Cato 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) | 29 | 32 | 43 | 56 | 69 | 78 | 82 | 80 | 73 | 59 | 45 | 34 |
| Rain (in) | 2.4 | 1.9 | 2.4 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 3.2 | 3.6 | 3.0 | 3.6 | 2.9 | 2.4 |
February is the driest month (1.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 3.8 inches fall in April, the wettest month. The climate in Cato Township →
Next door
Cato Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Winfield Township14 miPine Township10 miBelvidere Township9.7 miHinton Township7.4 miCato Township1.6 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cato Township | under 1% | under 0.1 | 17 | 42% | C− |
| Belvidere Township | 3% | 0.3 | 408 | 36% | B |
| Hinton Township | 1% | 0.2 | 110 | 20% | C+ |
| Pine Township | 14% | 0.3 | 1,580 | 34% | B+ |
| Winfield Township | 1% | 0.4 | 6 | 4% | C− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Cato Township
How much of Cato Township 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 Cato Township’s trails?
Lakeside Park and Tamarack Lake Public Access don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Cato Township?
9,566 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Cato Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 51 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Cato Township have?
Ahead of 24% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #618 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 Cato 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 →