Fort Custer Recreation Area
Park
2,893 acres46.5 mi of trail
Red TrailGreen TrailAntenna TrailYellow Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Acres, The (Additional Documentation) · Photo: User:Jaydec · CC BY-SA 3.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Charleston Township
Charleston Township has 795 acres of parks, 397 for every 1,000 residents
61 miles of mapped trail cross Charleston Township, 1.8 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Fort Custer Recreation Area (46.5 mi), Augusta Floodplain Nature Preserve (0.5 mi). 46% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 78% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
573 acres · of 34.8 sq mi of land
Trails
61 mi
1.8 per sq mi of land
Park land
795 ac
397 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
46%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
4.2 mi
4.2 mi lanes
Lakes & rivers
9
2 beaches · 6 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Charleston Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Charleston Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Charleston Township is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Charleston Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%B−Trails1.8 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (61 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4APark land397 acres of park per 1,000 residents (795 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13AParks close to home46% 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 78%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B 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 Fort Custer Recreation Area, with 46.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Augusta Floodplain Nature Preserve
Managed by Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy
395 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Cold Brook County Park
Managed by Kalamazoo County
271 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Oak Braes Nature Preserve
Managed by Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy
35 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
573 conserved acres
3% of Charleston Township’s land. Who manages Charleston Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits334 ac
County204 ac
Other state land34 ac
Private Conservation · 334 acLocal Park · 204 acConservation Easement · 34 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 34 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 7 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emmons Augusta Floodplain Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 294 | Restricted |
| Cold Brook County Park Local Park | County | 204 | Open |
| Oak Braes Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 40 | Unknown |
Things to do
16 places to go in Charleston Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Charleston Township
2 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Playgrounds in Charleston Township
4 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Boat launches in Charleston Township
6 boat launches without a name on the map.
Picnic areas in Charleston Township
1 picnic area without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Campgrounds in Charleston Township
Improved CampgroundIn Cold Brook County Park · Cold Brook County Park
DirectionsRustic CampgroundIn Cold Brook County Park · Cold Brook County Park
DirectionsDisc golf in Charleston Township
1 disc golf course without a name on the map.
Trails & water
20 named trails and 9 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 23.7 miHorses · 14.8 miUnpaved · 21.8 mi
Red Trail6.8 mi
Green Trail6.2 mi
Antenna Trail3.1 mi
Yellow Trail3.0 mi
Historic Trail2.3 mi
Blue Loop (B5 to B10)2.1 mi
South River Trail1.9 mi
Equestrian Trail1.6 mi
Green Acres Trail1.5 mi
North River Trail1.4 mi
10 more trails
Red Trail (Crazy Beaver Segment)
1.3 miBlue Loop (G1 to B10)
0.9 miRiver Trail
0.7 miBlue Loop Cutoff (B5 to B10)
0.6 miRed Trail / Yellow Trail
0.5 miGreen Trail / Yellow Trail
0.5 miRiver Trail Loop
0.4 miBlue Loop Cutoff (B6 to B5)
0.4 miYellow Trail Access
0.3 miBypass
0.1 miBiking & sports
4.2 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
4.2 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
Courts & fields
8Tennis
2Baseball
1Soccer
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).
Acres, TheDistrict · listed 2004
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Charleston Township: July to 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 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 31 | 34 | 46 | 59 | 71 | 80 | 83 | 81 | 74 | 61 | 47 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 2.2 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 3.3 | 4.2 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 3.2 | 3.6 | 2.6 | 2.1 |
February is the driest month (1.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.2 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Charleston Township →
Next door
Charleston Township and its neighbors
Charleston Township has the most mapped trails of the 7 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Charleston Township61 miRoss Township37 miBattle Creek30 miComstock Township9.4 miAugusta0.3 miGalesburg0.0 miClimax Township0.0 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charleston Township | 3% | 1.8 | 397 | 46% | A− |
| Ross Township | 17% | 1.1 | 615 | 45% | A |
| Galesburg | 3% | under 0.1 | 15 | 99%+ | B− |
| Climax Township | 5% | under 0.1 | 2 | 37% | C− |
| Battle Creek | 4% | 0.7 | 20 | 74% | B+ |
| Comstock Township | 4% | 0.3 | 46 | 46% | B |
| Augusta | — 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 Charleston Township
Where can I hike in Charleston Township?
The longest trail networks: Fort Custer Recreation Area, 46.5 miles; Augusta Floodplain Nature Preserve, 0.5 miles; Cold Brook County Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Charleston 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 Charleston Township’s trails?
Fort Custer Recreation Area and Augusta Floodplain Nature Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Charleston Township?
4.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 4.2 of painted or protected lanes.
Is there public land near Charleston Township?
9,732 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Charleston Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 795 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Charleston Township have?
Ahead of 78% 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 Charleston 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 →