Burns Prairie Preserve
Managed by Chickaming Open Lands
37 acres1.4 mi of trail
Indian Grass Loop TrailButterfly Weed Loop TrailWoodLand Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: Kevin Dooley from Chander, AZ, USA · CC BY 2.0C−Outdoors
Outdoors in Galien Township
Few parks or trails are on the map in Galien Township
The biggest trail networks: Burns Prairie Preserve (1.4 mi). 1.5 miles of mapped trail cross Galien Township, 0.1 per square mile of land. 10 acres are parks and preserves, 7.5 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 19% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
84 acres · of 22.0 sq mi of land
Trails
1.5 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
10 ac
7.5 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
36%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
3
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Galien Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Galien Township is ahead of 19% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; park acres per resident come closest.
C−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Galien Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%C−Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4CPark land7.5 acres of park per 1,000 residents (10 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home36% 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 19%
LessMore
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Galien Township. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would still be C−. 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 Burns Prairie Preserve, with 1.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
84 conserved acres
1% of Galien Township’s land. Who manages Galien Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits98 ac
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service10 ac
Other Easement · 54 acPrivate Conservation · 39 acConservation Easement · 10 acForest Stewardship Easement · 5 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 45 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burns Prairie Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 39 | Closed |
Things to do
2 places to go in Galien Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Galien Township
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
3 named trails and 3 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Indian Grass Loop Trail0.7 mi
Butterfly Weed Loop Trail0.3 mi
WoodLand Trail0.2 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
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
2Baseball
1Volleyball
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Galien Township: April, July and 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) | 9.5 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 32 | 36 | 47 | 59 | 70 | 80 | 83 | 81 | 75 | 62 | 48 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.6 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 3.9 | 4.2 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 2.8 | 2.5 |
February is the driest month (2.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.2 inches fall in August, the wettest month. The climate in Galien Township →
Next door
Galien Township and its neighbors
Galien 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Galien Township | 1% | 0.1 | 7 | 36% | C− |
| Weesaw Township | 1% | under 0.1 | 135 | 4% | C |
| Bertrand Township | 1% | under 0.1 | 29 | 8% | C− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Galien Township
Where can I hike in Galien Township?
The longest trail networks: Burns Prairie Preserve, 1.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Galien Township is conserved land?
1% 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 Galien Township’s trails?
Burns Prairie Preserve doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Galien Township?
5,583 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Galien Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 10 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Galien Township have?
Ahead of 19% 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 Galien 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 →