Gratiot - Saginaw State Game Area
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
2,352 acres0.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Elba Township
Elba Township has 2,781 acres of parks, 2,551 for every 1,000 residents
17% of Elba Township’s land is conserved, about 3,761 acres. The biggest trail networks: Gratiot - Saginaw State Game Area (0.9 mi). 2.3 miles of mapped trail cross Elba Township, 0.1 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 73% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
17%
3,761 acres · of 35.0 sq mi of land
Trails
2.3 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
2,781 ac
2,551 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
59%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Elba Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
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 73% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Elba Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land17% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4CPark land2,551 acres of park per 1,000 residents (2,781 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home59% of residents within a half mile of a park · MI 50% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 73%
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 Gratiot - Saginaw State Game Area, with 0.9 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Village Park
Managed by Village of Ashley
6 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Maple River / Gratiot-Saginaw Connector State Game Area
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
308 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Maple River State Game Area
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
106 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
3,761 conserved acres
17% of Elba Township’s land. Who manages Elba Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State fish & wildlife2,664 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)1,011 ac
Private owners83 ac
Town or city5 ac
State Conservation Area · 2,664 acConservation Easement · 1,011 acPrivate Park · 83 acLocal Park · 5 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1,009 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gratiot-Saginaw State Game Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 2,353 | Open |
| Maple River/Gratiot-Saginaw Connector State Game Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 306 | Open |
| Ashley Sportsmen Club Private Park | Private owners | 83 | Open |
| Maple River State Game Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 6 | Open |
| Land Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Elba Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Elba Township
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
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
4Baseball
1Basketball
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Elba Township: July 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 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 30 | 33 | 44 | 57 | 69 | 79 | 83 | 81 | 74 | 61 | 47 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 2.1 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 3.1 | 3.4 | 2.8 | 3.1 | 2.5 | 1.9 |
February is the driest month (1.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 3.8 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Elba Township →
Next door
Elba Township and its neighbors
Elba Township has the second most mapped trails of the 4 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elba Township | 17% | 0.1 | 2,551 | 59% | B+ |
| Washington Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Duplain Township | under 1% | under 0.1 | 34 | 23% | C− |
| Hamilton 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 Elba Township
Where can I hike in Elba Township?
The longest trail networks: Gratiot - Saginaw State Game Area, 0.9 miles; Village Park, 0.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Elba Township is conserved land?
17% 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?
Gratiot - Saginaw State Game Area and Village Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Elba Township?
23,537 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Elba Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 2,781 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Elba Township have?
Ahead of 73% 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 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 →