Mackinaw State Forest - Gaylord Unit
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
1,224 acres1.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
BOutdoors
Outdoors in Echo Township
Echo Township has 651 acres of parks, 598 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Mackinaw State Forest - Gaylord Unit (1.1 mi), Cosner & Bennett-Barnes Nature Preserve (0.5 mi). 7% of Echo Township’s land is conserved, about 1,638 acres. 23% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 65% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
7%
1,638 acres · of 34.9 sq mi of land
Trails
10 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
651 ac
598 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
23%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
899 ft
Bunker Hill
Lakes & rivers
5
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Echo Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Echo Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Echo Township is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns. 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 Echo Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land7% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (10 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land598 acres of park per 1,000 residents (651 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home23% 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 65%
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 1.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Cosner & Bennett-Barnes Nature Preserve
Managed by Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy
132 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Bauer Nature Preserve
Managed by Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy
296 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
All 5 parks & preserves
Mackinaw State Forest - Gaylord Unit1,224 acres · 1.1 mi of trail · Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Cosner & Bennett-Barnes Nature Preserve132 acres · 0.5 mi of trail · Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy
DirectionsBauer Nature Preserve296 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy
Mohrmann Natural Area87 acres
Echo Park2 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
1,638 conserved acres
7% of Echo Township’s land. Who manages Echo Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits1,309 ac
Town or city260 ac
State natural resources76 ac
Unknown Easement · 931 acPrivate Conservation · 378 acLocal Park · 260 acState Conservation Area · 76 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 923 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bauer Preserve Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 235 | Open |
| Murphy Park Local Park | Town or city | 170 | Open |
| Cosner Nature Preserve Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 108 | Open |
| Mohrmann Park Local Park | Town or city | 87 | Open |
| MNRTF Parcel 90 State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 76 | Restricted |
| Cosner Nature Preserve - Bennet Barnes Addition Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 26 | Open |
| Pamela L. Polaczyk Preserve Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 9 | Open |
| Echo Township Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
Things to do
4 places to go in Echo Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in Echo Township
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Peaks in Echo Township
Bunker Hill899 ft elevation
DirectionsDingle Hill
DirectionsCampgrounds in Echo Township
Pleasant Valley Bible Camp
DirectionsTrails & water
2 named trails and 5 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 6.5 mi
Timber Ridge1.0 mi
Jordan Hills0.6 mi
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
2Baseball
1Soccer
1Softball
1Beach volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Echo 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 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°F) | 27 | 29 | 40 | 53 | 67 | 76 | 80 | 78 | 71 | 57 | 43 | 33 |
| Rain (in) | 2.4 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 3.0 | 3.2 | 3.3 | 3.0 | 3.3 | 3.9 | 4.4 | 3.1 | 2.7 |
February is the driest month (1.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 4.4 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Echo Township →
Next door
Echo Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Kearney Township30 miJordan Township26 miEcho Township10 miSouth Arm Township7.3 miCentral Lake Township5.4 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Echo Township | 7% | 0.3 | 598 | 23% | B |
| Central Lake Township | 3% | 0.2 | 226 | 51% | B |
| Kearney Township | 11% | 0.9 | 136 | 42% | A− |
| South Arm Township | 3% | 0.2 | 101 | 23% | B− |
| Jordan Township | — 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 Echo Township
Where can I hike in Echo Township?
The longest trail networks: Mackinaw State Forest - Gaylord Unit, 1.1 miles; Cosner & Bennett-Barnes Nature Preserve, 0.5 miles; Bauer Nature Preserve, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Echo Township is conserved land?
7% 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 Echo Township’s trails?
Mackinaw State Forest - Gaylord Unit and Cosner & Bennett-Barnes Nature Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Echo Township?
6,834 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Echo Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 651 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Echo Township have?
Ahead of 65% 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 Echo 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 →