Mackinaw State Forest - Gaylord Unit
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
78 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
BOutdoors
Outdoors in Custer Township
Custer Township has 41 miles of mapped trails, 1.2 for every square mile of land
51 acres are parks and preserves, 48 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Mackinaw State Forest - Gaylord Unit (0.6 mi). 5% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 62% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
4%
944 acres · of 34.7 sq mi of land
Trails
41 mi
1.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
51 ac
48 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
5%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
16
What kind of outdoors town is Custer Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Custer Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Custer Township is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns. Trail miles hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Custer Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land4% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%BTrails1.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (41 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land48 acres of park per 1,000 residents (51 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home5% of residents within a half mile of a park · MI 50% · U.S. 72%D
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 62%
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 Mackinaw State Forest - Gaylord Unit, with 0.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Grass River Natural Area
Nature preserve
196 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Simpson Road Forest Area
Managed by Antrim County
157 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Finch Creek Nature Sanctuary
Managed by Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy
48 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
All 5 parks & preserves
Mackinaw State Forest - Gaylord Unit78 acres · 0.6 mi of trail · Michigan Department of Natural Resources
DirectionsGrass River Natural Area196 acres
Simpson Road Forest Area157 acres · Antrim County
Finch Creek Nature Sanctuary48 acres · Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy
Custer Township Park38 acres · Custer Township
Who protects it
944 conserved acres
4% of Custer Township’s land. Who manages Custer Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Private owners513 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits402 ac
Town or city30 ac
Private Park · 513 acLocal Conservation Area · 276 acUnknown Easement · 124 acLocal Park · 30 acPrivate Conservation · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 124 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schuss Mountain Golf Course Private Park | Private owners | 330 | Restricted |
| Grass River Natural Area Local Conservation Area | Land trusts & nonprofits | 276 | Closed |
| Shanty Creek Golf Course Private Park | Private owners | 139 | Restricted |
| Bellaire Golf Club Private Park | Private owners | 44 | Restricted |
| Custer Township Park Local Park | Town or city | 30 | Open |
| Cedar River Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 1 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Custer Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Campgrounds in Custer Township
Chain O' Lakes Campground
DirectionsTrails & water
4 named trails and 16 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 15.8 mi
D&B Trail2.4 mi
Ricksgers Road Northwest0.9 mi
Wild Wood Trail0.2 mi
Antrim Woods0.1 mi
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
5Tennis
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Custer 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 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°F) | 27 | 30 | 40 | 53 | 67 | 76 | 80 | 78 | 70 | 57 | 43 | 32 |
| Rain (in) | 2.4 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 3.0 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 3.0 | 3.2 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 3.0 | 2.6 |
February is the driest month (1.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 4.3 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Custer Township →
Next door
Custer Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Mancelona Township130 miRapid River Township76 miForest Home Township46 miCuster Township41 miKearney Township30 miHelena Township13 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Custer Township | 4% | 1.2 | 48 | 5% | B |
| Helena Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Forest Home Township | 7% | 1.9 | 467 | 41% | A |
| Rapid River Township | under 1% | 2.2 | 167 | 24% | B |
| Kearney Township | 11% | 0.9 | 136 | 42% | A− |
| Mancelona Township | 1% | 1.8 | 6 | 33% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Custer Township
Where can I hike in Custer Township?
The longest trail networks: Mackinaw State Forest - Gaylord Unit, 0.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Custer Township is conserved land?
4% 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 Custer Township’s trails?
Mackinaw State Forest - Gaylord Unit and Grass River Natural Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Custer Township?
7,867 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Custer Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 51 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Custer Township have?
Ahead of 62% 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 Custer 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 →