Manistee National Forest - Manistee Ranger District
Managed by United States Forest Service
8,980 acres29.1 mi of trail
North Country National Scenic TrailNFS 8529NFS 8523NFS 8522+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailhead
B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Elk Township
40% of Elk Township’s land is conserved: 9,049 acres
36 miles of mapped trail cross Elk Township, 1.0 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Manistee National Forest - Manistee Ranger District (29.1 mi). 2 acres are parks and preserves, 1.8 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 54% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
40%
9,049 acres · of 35.6 sq mi of land
Trails
36 mi
1.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
2 ac
1.8 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
15%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
30
2 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Elk Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Elk Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Elk Township is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Elk Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land40% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%A+Trails1.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (36 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land1.8 acres of park per 1,000 residents (2 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home15% 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 54%
LessMore
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
The longest trail network is Manistee National Forest - Manistee Ranger District, with 29.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Manistee National Forest - Baldwin Ranger District
Managed by United States Forest Service
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Harper Lake Public Access
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it
9,049 conserved acres
40% of Elk Township’s land. Who manages Elk Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Forest Service9,011 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits39 ac
National Forest · 9,011 acOther Easement · 39 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 38 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manistee National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 9,011 | Open |
Things to do
3 places to go in Elk Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in Elk Township
Elbow Lake Boat Launch
DirectionsHarper Lake Boat Launch
DirectionsCampgrounds in Elk Township
Bear Track CampgroundIn Manistee National Forest - Manistee Ranger District · United States Forest Service
DirectionsTrails & water
19 named trails and 30 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 6.1 miUnpaved · 17.0 mi
North Country National Scenic Trail5.1 mi
NFS 85291.4 mi
to campground1.0 mi
NFS 85231.0 mi
Udell Hills SMT Sidelop DNR6140.9 mi
NFS 85220.8 mi
NFS 50880.8 mi
NFS 85150.5 mi
NFS 84340.4 mi
NFS 98270.4 mi
9 more trails
NFS 8435
0.4 miNorth Maple Ridge Circle
0.3 miNFS 8997
0.3 miLormax
0.3 miNFS 8807
0.2 miNFS 8456
0.2 miNFS 8763
0.2 miNFS 8936
0.2 miNFS 8542
0.1 miLakes & rivers tap for directions
Bass LakelakeBear Wallow LakelakeBeaver LakelakeBluegill LakelakeBuckwheat LakelakeBullhead LakelakeCool LakelakeCoon LakelakeElbow LakelakeFairbanks LakelakeHarper LakelakeHorseshoe LakelakeIndian LakelakeList LakelakeLittle Bass LakelakeLittles LakelakeLower Pickerel LakelakeMaple LakelakeMiddle Pickerel LakelakeMidget LakePapoose LakelakePomeroy LakeslakeQuick LakelakeQuick LakeslakeSand LakelakeSunshine LakelakeUpper Pickerel LakelakeWalton LakelakeWile LakelakeLittle Manistee River
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
3Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Elk Township: May 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) | 9.2 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 29 | 32 | 42 | 55 | 68 | 77 | 81 | 79 | 72 | 58 | 45 | 34 |
| Rain (in) | 2.4 | 1.7 | 2.2 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 3.1 | 3.1 | 4.1 | 3.2 | 2.4 |
February is the driest month (1.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 4.1 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Elk Township →
Next door
Elk Township and its neighbors
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elk Township | 40% | 1.0 | 2 | 15% | B− |
| Sauble Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Eden Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Norman Township | 56% | 1.4 | 41 | 21% | A− |
| Meade 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 Elk Township
Where can I hike in Elk Township?
The longest trail networks: Manistee National Forest - Manistee Ranger District, 29.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Elk Township is conserved land?
40% 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 Elk Township’s trails?
Manistee National Forest - Manistee Ranger District and Manistee National Forest - Baldwin Ranger District don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Elk Township?
169,429 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Elk Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 8,057 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Elk Township have?
Ahead of 54% 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 Elk 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 →