Deerfield Nature Park
Managed by Isabella County
651 acres14.7 mi of trail
Wildwood PathwayRiver TrailCovered Bridge TrailRaceway Path+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Deerfield Township
Deerfield Township has 817 acres of parks, 247 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Deerfield Nature Park (14.7 mi), Sylvan Solace Preserve (1.6 mi). 22 miles of mapped trail cross Deerfield Township, 0.6 per square mile of land. 25% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 50% of U.S. towns · #448 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
36 acres · of 35.5 sq mi of land
Trails
22 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
817 ac
247 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
25%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
7
1 beach · 3 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Deerfield Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Deerfield Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Deerfield Township is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns, #448 of 701 in Michigan. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Deerfield Township’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%C−Trails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (22 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land247 acres of park per 1,000 residents (817 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13AParks close to home25% 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 50%
LessMore
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 36%
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
The longest trail network is Deerfield Nature Park, with 14.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Sylvan Solace Preserve
Managed by Chippewa Watershed Conservancy
90 acres1.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Audubon Woods Preserve
Managed by Chippewa Watershed Conservancy
37 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Deerfield Township Park
Managed by Deerfield Township
16 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 10 parks & preserves
Deerfield Nature Park651 acres · 14.7 mi of trail · Isabella County
DirectionsSylvan Solace Preserve90 acres · 1.6 mi of trail · Chippewa Watershed Conservancy
DirectionsAudubon Woods Preserve37 acres · Chippewa Watershed Conservancy
Deerfield Township Park16 acres · Deerfield Township
McNeel Preserve6 acres · Chippewa Watershed Conservancy
Ball Preserve4 acres · Chippewa Watershed Conservancy
Winawa Preserve2 acres · Chippewa Watershed Conservancy
Majeske Landing2 acres · Isabella County
Hagen Preserve2 acres · Chippewa Watershed Conservancy
Meridian Road Preserve1 acres · Chippewa Watershed Conservancy
Who protects it
36 conserved acres
under 1% of Deerfield Township’s land. Who manages Deerfield Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits17 ac
Other state land16 ac
County2 ac
Conservation Easement · 34 acLocal Park · 2 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 34 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meridian Park Local Park | County | 2 | Open |
Things to do
5 places to go in Deerfield Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Deerfield Township
1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in Deerfield Township
canoeIn Deerfield Nature Park
DirectionscanoeIn Deerfield Nature Park
DirectionsPlus 1 boat launch without a name on the map.
Campgrounds in Deerfield Township
1 campground without a name on the map.
Trails & water
11 named trails and 7 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 1.0 mi
Wildwood Pathway2.4 mi
River Trail2.3 mi
Covered Bridge Trail1.4 mi
Raceway Path0.5 mi
Oak Ridge0.5 mi
Nature's Way Loop0.5 mi
Goshawk Loop0.3 mi
Fox Run Crossover0.3 mi
Lewis Pontiac Trail0.3 mi
Fire Break Crossover0.2 mi
1 more trails
Two Oaks Crossover
0.2 miLakes & 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
3Volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Deerfield 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 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 29 | 32 | 43 | 56 | 69 | 79 | 83 | 80 | 73 | 59 | 45 | 34 |
| Rain (in) | 2.1 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 3.7 | 2.8 | 3.3 | 2.5 | 2.0 |
February is the driest month (1.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 3.7 inches fall in August, the wettest month. The climate in Deerfield Township →
Next door
Deerfield Township and its neighbors
Deerfield Township has the most mapped trails of the 5 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Deerfield Township22 miBroomfield Township10 miUnion Township4.3 miFremont Township1.5 miNottawa Township0.0 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deerfield Township | under 1% | 0.6 | 247 | 25% | B− |
| Union Township | 3% | 0.2 | 27 | 30% | C+ |
| Broomfield Township | 2% | 0.3 | 218 | 20% | B− |
| Fremont Township | 4% | under 0.1 | 231 | 15% | C+ |
| Nottawa Township | under 1% | under 0.1 | 34 | 39% | C− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Deerfield Township
Where can I hike in Deerfield Township?
The longest trail networks: Deerfield Nature Park, 14.7 miles; Sylvan Solace Preserve, 1.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Deerfield 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 Deerfield Township’s trails?
Deerfield Nature Park and Sylvan Solace Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Deerfield Township?
5,922 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Deerfield Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 817 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Deerfield Township have?
Ahead of 50% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #448 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 Deerfield 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 →