Petite Wetland Plant Preserve
Managed by Michigan Nature Association
13 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Elba Township
Elba Township has 209 acres of parks, 40 for every 1,000 residents
0.4 miles of mapped trail cross Elba Township. 21% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 5% of Elba Township’s land is conserved, about 1,007 acres.
Ahead of 38% of U.S. towns · #533 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
1,007 acres · of 31.7 sq mi of land
Trails
0.4 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
209 ac
40 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
21%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
10
1 boat launch
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Elba Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Elba Township is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns, #533 of 701 in Michigan. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Elba Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4DPark land40 acres of park per 1,000 residents (209 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home21% 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 38%
LessMore
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 24%
Water is 6% of Elba Township’s area (2 of 34 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 5%.
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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Elba Fields
Park
7 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Lake Nepessing Public Access
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it
1,007 conserved acres
5% of Elba Township’s land. Water is left out: Elba Township has 31.7 square miles of land and 2.0 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Elba Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Private owners948 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)46 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits13 ac
Private Park · 674 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 215 acUnknown · 58 acConservation Easement · 46 acPrivate Conservation · 13 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 46 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vasa Country Club Private Park | Private owners | 319 | Restricted |
| Utility Corridor Private Other or Unknown | Private owners | 215 | Open |
| Hunters Creek Club Private Park | Private owners | 183 | Open |
| Lapeer Country Club Private Park | Private owners | 170 | Restricted |
| Carp River Association Unknown | Private owners | 58 | Open |
| Petite Wetland Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 13 | Open |
| Sugarbush Golf Club Private Park | Private owners | 2 | Restricted |
Things to do
1 places to go in Elba Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in Elba Township
Lake Nepessing Boat Launch
DirectionsTrails & water
10 lakes & rivers
When to get out
The best walking months in Elba 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 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.3 | 15.1 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 30 | 33 | 43 | 57 | 70 | 79 | 82 | 80 | 74 | 60 | 46 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 2.1 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 3.2 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 3.2 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 2.4 | 2.1 |
February is the driest month (1.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 3.6 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Elba Township →
Next door
Elba Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Hadley Township31 miOregon Township25 miLapeer19 miDavison Township12 miElba Township0.4 miLapeer Township0.1 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elba Township | 5% | under 0.1 | 40 | 21% | C+ |
| Lapeer | 10% | 2.5 | 28 | 70% | A |
| Hadley Township | 21% | 0.9 | 987 | 46% | A |
| Oregon Township | 19% | 0.8 | 703 | 70% | A |
| Davison Township | 8% | 0.4 | 38 | 53% | B+ |
| Lapeer Township | 1% | under 0.1 | 10 | 11% | D |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Elba Township
How much of Elba Township is conserved land?
5% 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 Elba Township’s trails?
Petite Wetland Plant Preserve and Elba Fields don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Elba Township?
33,710 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Elba Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 268 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Elba Township have?
Ahead of 38% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #533 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 Elba 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 →