South Park
Managed by City of Gladwin
30 acres0.3 mi of trail
Riverwalk Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Gladwin
Gladwin has 132 acres of parks, 42 for every 1,000 residents
86% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 5% of Gladwin’s land is conserved, about 89 acres. 0.6 miles of mapped trail cross Gladwin, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 70% of U.S. towns · #290 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
89 acres · of 2.9 sq mi of land
Trails
0.6 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
132 ac
42 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
86%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.2 mi
1.2 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
1 beach
What kind of outdoors town is Gladwin?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Gladwin have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Gladwin is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns, #290 of 701 in Michigan. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Gladwin’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land42 acres of park per 1,000 residents (132 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home86% 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 70%
LessMore
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 59%
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 South Park, with 0.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Gladwin Community Arena Park
Managed by City of Gladwin
18 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it
89 conserved acres
5% of Gladwin’s land. Who manages Gladwin’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County44 ac
Town or city27 ac
Private owners11 ac
Other state land7 ac
State fish & wildlife1 ac
Local Recreation Area · 44 acLocal Park · 27 acPrivate Park · 11 acConservation Easement · 7 acState Conservation Area · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown Park Local Park | Town or city | 63 | Open |
| Gladwin Heights Golf Course Private Park | Private owners | 11 | Restricted |
| Gladwin City Park Local Park | Town or city | 7 | Open |
| Gladwin State Game Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 1 | Open |
Things to do
5 places to go in Gladwin
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Gladwin
1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Playgrounds in Gladwin
4 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
1 named trail and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Riverwalk Trail0.2 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
1.2 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.2 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
12Baseball
8Soccer
5Tennis
4Beach volleyball
3Football
2Basketball
1Skate park
1Equestrian
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Gladwin: 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) | 9.2 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 29 | 32 | 43 | 56 | 69 | 78 | 82 | 80 | 73 | 59 | 45 | 34 |
| Rain (in) | 1.9 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 3.3 | 2.7 | 3.1 | 2.4 | 2.0 |
February is the driest month (1.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 3.6 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Gladwin →
Next door
Gladwin 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gladwin | 5% | 0.2 | 42 | 86% | B+ |
| Grout Township | 4% | 0.1 | 153 | 8% | C+ |
| Buckeye Township | 6% | 0.5 | 743 | 13% | B |
| Gladwin Township | under 1% | 0.1 | under 1 | 4% | D |
| Sage Township | 4% | 0.3 | 354 | 42% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Gladwin
Where can I hike in Gladwin?
The longest trail networks: South Park, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Gladwin 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 Gladwin’s trails?
South Park and North Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Gladwin?
1.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.2 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Gladwin?
5,163 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Gladwin or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 132 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Gladwin have?
Ahead of 70% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #290 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 Gladwin 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 →