Mill Pond County Park
Managed by Oceana County
5 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Ferry Township
Ferry Township has 160 acres of parks, 123 for every 1,000 residents
10% of Ferry Township’s land is conserved, about 2,312 acres. 24 miles of mapped trail cross Ferry Township, 0.7 per square mile of land. 16% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 71% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
10%
2,312 acres · of 36.0 sq mi of land
Trails
24 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
160 ac
123 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
16%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
7
What kind of outdoors town is Ferry Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Ferry Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Ferry Township is ahead of 71% 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 Ferry Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land10% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (24 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land123 acres of park per 1,000 residents (160 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13AParks close to home16% 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 71%
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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Manistee National Forest-White Cloud Unit
Managed by United States Forest Service
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
2,312 conserved acres
10% of Ferry Township’s land. Who manages Ferry Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Forest Service2,025 ac
Town or city154 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)133 ac
National Forest · 2,025 acLocal Recreation Area · 154 acConservation Easement · 133 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 133 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 | 2,025 | Open |
| Camp Keewana Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 154 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Ferry Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Ferry Township
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
1 named trail and 7 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 2.0 mi
NFS 90210.6 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
When to get out
The best walking months in Ferry 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 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 30 | 33 | 43 | 56 | 69 | 78 | 82 | 80 | 72 | 59 | 45 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 2.3 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 3.3 | 3.2 | 4.0 | 3.1 | 2.4 |
February is the driest month (1.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 4.0 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Ferry Township →
Next door
Ferry Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Otto Township64 miNewfield Township27 miFerry Township24 miElbridge Township18 miShelby Township15 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ferry Township | 10% | 0.7 | 123 | 16% | B+ |
| Shelby Township | 9% | 0.4 | 350 | 72% | A− |
| Newfield Township | 13% | 0.8 | 51 | 52% | A− |
| Elbridge Township | 1% | 0.5 | 16 | 3% | C |
| Otto 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 Ferry Township
How much of Ferry Township is conserved land?
10% 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 Ferry Township’s trails?
Mill Pond County Park and Manistee National Forest-White Cloud Unit don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Ferry Township?
48,821 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Ferry Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 2,070 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Ferry Township have?
Ahead of 71% 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 Ferry 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 →