Au Sable State Forest - Grayling Unit
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
36 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
M-27-Au Sable River Bridge · Photo: Andrew Jameson · CC BY-SA 3.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Grayling
11% of Grayling’s land is conserved: 140 acres
1.9 miles of mapped trail cross Grayling, 0.9 per square mile of land. 91% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 28 acres are parks and preserves, 17 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 85% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
11%
140 acres · of 2.1 sq mi of land
Trails
1.9 mi
0.9 per sq mi of land
Park land
28 ac
17 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
91%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.7 mi
1.5 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Grayling?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Grayling have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Grayling is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; trail miles rank highest, park acres per resident lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Grayling’s overall grade.
Conserved land11% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.9 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land17 acres of park per 1,000 residents (28 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13BParks close to home91% of residents within a half mile of a park · MI 50% · U.S. 72%A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 85%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− 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.
Who protects it
140 conserved acres
11% of Grayling’s land. Who manages Grayling’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Private owners113 ac
Town or city27 ac
Private Park · 113 acLocal Recreation Area · 21 acLocal Park · 6 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grayling Country Club Private Park | Private owners | 113 | Restricted |
| Camp AuSable Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 21 | Open |
| Cedar St Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Grayling
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Grayling
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
1 named trail and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
East Railroad Trail0.4 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
1.7 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.5 mi
off-road bike paths
0.2 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
2Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
M-27-Au Sable River BridgeStructure · listed 1999
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Grayling: May and 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 | 14.8 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°F) | 27 | 30 | 40 | 54 | 67 | 76 | 80 | 78 | 71 | 57 | 43 | 32 |
| Rain (in) | 2.0 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 3.6 | 2.9 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 3.7 | 2.7 | 2.1 |
February is the driest month (1.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 3.7 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Grayling →
Questions about parks and trails in Grayling
How much of Grayling is conserved land?
11% 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 Grayling’s trails?
Au Sable State Forest - Grayling Unit doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Grayling?
1.7 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.5 of off-road paths and 0.2 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Grayling?
31,452 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Grayling or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 28 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Grayling have?
Ahead of 85% 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 Grayling 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 →