Wilson Lake Boating Access Site
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
4 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
BOutdoors
Outdoors in Central Lake Township
Central Lake Township has 496 acres of parks, 226 for every 1,000 residents
5.4 miles of mapped trail cross Central Lake Township, 0.2 per square mile of land. 51% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 3% of Central Lake Township’s land is conserved, about 564 acres.
Ahead of 59% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
564 acres · of 27.5 sq mi of land
Trails
5.4 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
496 ac
226 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
51%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
3
3 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Central Lake Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Central Lake Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Central Lake Township is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Central Lake Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (5 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land226 acres of park per 1,000 residents (496 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13AParks close to home51% 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 59%
LessMore
Water is 12% of Central Lake Township’s area (4 of 31 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 3%.
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
564 conserved acres
3% of Central Lake Township’s land. Water is left out: Central Lake Township has 27.5 square miles of land and 3.8 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Central Lake Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city483 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits79 ac
Other state land1 ac
Local Recreation Area · 475 acUnknown Easement · 79 acLocal Park · 8 acConservation Easement · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 81 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Camp Hayo-Went-Ha Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 475 | Open |
| Thurston Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Baseball Field Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
Things to do
7 places to go in Central Lake Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Central Lake Township
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Central Lake Township
Wilson Lake Boat Launch
DirectionsPlus 2 boat launches without a name on the map.
Campgrounds in Central Lake Township
Thurston Park Campground
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail and 3 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 1.9 mi
Maple View Court0.1 mi
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
4Tennis
3Baseball
2Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Central Lake 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) | 9.1 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°F) | 28 | 30 | 40 | 52 | 66 | 75 | 79 | 78 | 70 | 57 | 43 | 33 |
| Rain (in) | 2.3 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 2.9 | 3.1 | 3.1 | 2.9 | 3.1 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 2.9 | 2.5 |
February is the driest month (1.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 79 °F). 4.3 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Central Lake Township →
Next door
Central Lake Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Forest Home Township46 miEcho Township10 miTorch Lake Township7.7 miCentral Lake Township5.4 miBanks Township4.2 miEastport2.9 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Lake Township | 3% | 0.2 | 226 | 51% | B |
| Torch Lake Township | 4% | 0.5 | 163 | 25% | B |
| Echo Township | 7% | 0.3 | 598 | 23% | B |
| Banks Township | 2% | 0.1 | 45 | 29% | C+ |
| Forest Home Township | 7% | 1.9 | 467 | 41% | A |
| Eastport | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Central Lake Township
How much of Central Lake 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 Central Lake Township’s trails?
Wilson Lake Boating Access Site and Thurston Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Central Lake Township?
6,267 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Central Lake Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 496 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Central Lake Township have?
Ahead of 59% 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 Central Lake 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 →