Au Sable State Forest - Gladwin Unit
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
2,193 acres15.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
C−Outdoors
Outdoors in Denver Township
Denver Township has 24 miles of mapped trails, 0.7 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: Au Sable State Forest - Gladwin Unit (15.4 mi). 4% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 9 acres are parks and preserves, 6.0 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 22% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
13 acres · of 36.4 sq mi of land
Trails
24 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
9 ac
6.0 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
4%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
2
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Denver Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Denver Township is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns. Trail miles hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Denver Township’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%DTrails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (24 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land6.0 acres of park per 1,000 residents (9 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13CParks close to home4% 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 22%
LessMore
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Denver Township. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C. 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 Au Sable State Forest - Gladwin Unit, with 15.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
The Dawg Pound Ball Park
Park
5 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
13 conserved acres
under 1% of Denver Township’s land. Who manages Denver Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Other state land13 ac
Conservation Easement · 9 acState Conservation Area · 4 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Forest State Conservation Area | Other state land | 4 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Denver Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Denver Township
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
2 lakes & rivers
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
1Beach volleyball
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Denver 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) | 30 | 32 | 43 | 56 | 69 | 79 | 83 | 81 | 73 | 60 | 46 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 2.0 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 2.7 | 3.1 | 2.4 | 1.9 |
February is the driest month (1.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 3.6 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Denver Township →
Next door
Denver Township and its neighbors
Denver Township has the second most mapped trails of the 5 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Geneva Township29 miDenver Township24 miChippewa Township2.4 miWise Township1.0 miIsabella Township0.4 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver Township | under 1% | 0.7 | 6 | 4% | C− |
| Chippewa Township | 1% | 0.1 | 17 | 6% | C− |
| Wise Township | 1% | under 0.1 | 112 | 16% | C |
| Geneva Township | under 1% | 0.8 | 54 | 6% | C+ |
| Isabella Township | under 1% | under 0.1 | 10 | 19% | D |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Denver Township
Where can I hike in Denver Township?
The longest trail networks: Au Sable State Forest - Gladwin Unit, 15.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Denver 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 Denver Township’s trails?
Au Sable State Forest - Gladwin Unit and The Dawg Pound Ball Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Denver Township?
4,134 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Denver Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 9 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Denver Township have?
Ahead of 22% 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 Denver 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 →