Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Cooper Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
William S. Delano HouseWilliam S. Delano House · Photo: rossograph · CC BY-SA 4.0
BOutdoors
Outdoors in Cooper Township

Cooper Township has 1,265 acres of parks, 121 for every 1,000 residents

The biggest trail networks: Kalamazoo Nature Center (12.5 mi), Markin Glen County Park (0.6 mi). 10% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 22 miles of mapped trail cross Cooper Township, 0.6 per square mile of land.

Ahead of 62% of U.S. towns · #356 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it

Conserved land
5%
1,182 acres · of 36.3 sq mi of land
Trails
22 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
1,265 ac
121 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
10%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
8.4 mi
8.4 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
1 beach

What kind of outdoors town is Cooper Township?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Room to roam121 acres of park per 1,000 residents; the typical U.S. town has 13.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Cooper Township have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Cooper Township is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns, #356 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 Cooper Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (22 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land121 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,265 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13AParks close to home10% 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 62%
LessMore
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 49%
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.

12
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 Kalamazoo Nature Center, with 12.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Kalamazoo Nature Center

Park
1,004 acres12.5 mi of trail
Bluebird TrailSource PondTrout RunPioneer Woods+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Markin Glen County Park

Park
159 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it

1,182 conserved acres

5% of Cooper Township’s land. Who manages Cooper Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

Town or city974 ac
Private owners129 ac
County78 ac
Local Recreation Area · 986 acPrivate Park · 129 acLocal Park · 67 ac
The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Kalamazoo Nature Center
Local Recreation Area
Town or city974Open
Crestview Golf Course
Private Park
Private owners129Restricted
Markin Glen Park
Local Park
County67Open
Maple Glen Park
Local Recreation Area
County11Open
Things to do

17 places to go in Cooper Township

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Campgrounds in Cooper Township
KNC Camp
Directions

Plus 1 campground without a name on the map.

Trails & water

18 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers

Named trails
Unpaved · 7.3 mi
Bluebird Trail2.5 mi
Source Pond1.1 mi
Prairie Pathway Loops1.0 mi
Trout Run0.9 mi
Pioneer Woods0.7 mi
Beech Maple0.7 mi
Habitat Haven0.6 mi
Fern Valley Trail0.6 mi
Headwaters Trail0.5 mi
Ridge Run0.5 mi
8 more trails
Spur Trail
0.5 mi
Arboretum Loop
0.4 mi
Green Heron Ravine
0.4 mi
Raptor Ridge
0.3 mi
Trail Spur
0.3 mi
Wilderness Trail
0.2 mi
Cooper's Overlook
0.2 mi
River Walk
0.2 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Source PondpondKalamazoo River
Biking & sports

8.4 miles of bike routes

Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.

8.4 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
7Baseball
6Tennis
1Basketball

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

1 place on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).

History →
William S. Delano HouseBuilding · listed 1979
About it
When to get out

The best walking months in Cooper Township: June 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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.410.511.813.314.615.315.013.912.411.09.79.1
High (°F)313546597180848174624837
Rain (in)2.51.92.23.54.23.93.63.73.33.72.72.3

February is the driest month (1.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.2 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Cooper Township →

Next door

Cooper Township and its neighbors

Cooper Township has the most mapped trails of the 5 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Cooper Township22 miRichland Township4.7 miGun Plain Township2.3 miAlamo Township0.7 miKalamazoo Township0.2 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Cooper Township5%0.612110%B
Richland Township2%0.11214%C
Gun Plain Township2%0.1214%D
Alamo Township3%under 0.112626%C+
Kalamazoo Township1%under 0.1382%C−

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in Cooper Township

Where can I hike in Cooper Township?

The longest trail networks: Kalamazoo Nature Center, 12.5 miles; Markin Glen County Park, 0.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Cooper Township is conserved land?

5% 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 Cooper Township’s trails?

Kalamazoo Nature Center and Markin Glen County Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Where can I bike in Cooper Township?

8.4 miles of bike routes are on the map: 8.4 of off-road paths.

Is there public land near Cooper Township?

14,304 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Cooper Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,265 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does Cooper Township have?

Ahead of 62% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #356 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 Cooper Township neighbors.

Town Square →
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 →