Muskegon State Game Area
Managed by Michigan DNR - Wildlife Division
4,319 acres2.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
AOutdoors
Outdoors in Egelston Township
44% of Egelston Township’s land is conserved: 9,245 acres
9,293 acres are parks and preserves, 824 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Muskegon State Game Area (2.3 mi). 25 miles of mapped trail cross Egelston Township, 0.7 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 88% of U.S. towns · #102 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Conserved land
44%
9,245 acres · of 33.2 sq mi of land
Trails
25 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
9,293 ac
824 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
37%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
9.1 mi
9.1 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
3 beaches · 1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Egelston Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Egelston Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Egelston Township is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns, #102 of 701 in Michigan. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Egelston Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land44% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%A+Trails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (25 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land824 acres of park per 1,000 residents (9,293 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home37% 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 88%
LessMore
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 86%
Water is 7% of Egelston Township’s area (3 of 36 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 41%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− 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 Muskegon State Game Area, with 2.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
9,245 conserved acres
44% of Egelston Township’s land. Water is left out: Egelston Township has 33.2 square miles of land and 2.6 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Egelston Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State fish & wildlife9,133 ac
Town or city111 ac
State Conservation Area · 9,133 acLocal Conservation Area · 98 acLocal Park · 14 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Muskegon County Wastewater System Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 4,807 | Open |
| Muskegon State Game Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 4,326 | Open |
| Five Lakes Muskegon Nature Sanctuary Local Conservation Area | Town or city | 98 | Open |
| Unknown Park Local Park | Town or city | 7 | Open |
| Wolf Lake County Park Local Park | Town or city | 7 | Open |
Things to do
7 places to go in Egelston Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Egelston Township
Sunset Beach
DirectionsPlus 2 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Playgrounds in Egelston Township
3 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Boat launches in Egelston Township
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
1 named trail and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 9.0 mi
LP19 Snowmobile Trail3.3 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
9.1 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
9.1 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
8Baseball
1Football
1Basketball
1Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Egelston 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.
| 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 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 31 | 34 | 44 | 58 | 69 | 79 | 82 | 81 | 74 | 60 | 47 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 2.4 | 1.9 | 2.3 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 3.6 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.1 | 4.0 | 3.1 | 2.4 |
February is the driest month (1.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 4.0 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Egelston Township →
Next door
Egelston Township and its neighbors
Egelston Township has the second most mapped trails of the 5 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Cedar Creek Township43 miEgelston Township25 miMoorland Township9.0 miSullivan Township9.0 miMuskegon Township4.5 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Egelston Township | 44% | 0.7 | 824 | 37% | A |
| Muskegon Township | 18% | 0.2 | 154 | 40% | B+ |
| Moorland Township | 33% | 0.3 | 4,535 | 31% | A− |
| Sullivan Township | 1% | 0.4 | 210 | 15% | B− |
| Cedar Creek Township | 26% | 1.2 | 519 | 11% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Egelston Township
Where can I hike in Egelston Township?
The longest trail networks: Muskegon State Game Area, 2.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Egelston Township is conserved land?
44% 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 Egelston Township’s trails?
Muskegon State Game Area and Wolf Lake County Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Egelston Township?
9.1 miles of bike routes are on the map: 9.1 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Egelston Township?
43,086 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Egelston Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 9,293 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Egelston Township have?
Ahead of 88% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #102 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 Egelston 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 →