Pere Marquette State Forest - Cadillac Unit
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
15,064 acres73 mi of trail
North Country National Scenic TrailHigh Rollaways
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
A+Outdoors
Outdoors in Hanover Township
More than half of Hanover Township’s land is conserved: 64%
64% of Hanover Township’s land is conserved, about 14,794 acres. 14,916 acres are parks and preserves, 8,347 per 1,000 residents. 78 miles of mapped trail cross Hanover Township, 2.2 per square mile of land.
Among the top 1% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
64%
14,794 acres · of 36.0 sq mi of land
Trails
78 mi
2.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
14,916 ac
8,347 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
81%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.8 mi
0.8 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
3
3 beaches · 2 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Hanover Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Hanover Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Hanover Township is among the top 1% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; park acres per resident rank highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.
A+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Hanover Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land64% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%A+Trails2.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (78 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4APark land8,347 acres of park per 1,000 residents (14,916 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home81% of residents within a half mile of a park · MI 50% · U.S. 72%B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Among the top 1%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would still be 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 Pere Marquette State Forest - Cadillac Unit, with 73 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Kohn Family Nature Preserve
Nature preserve
17 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
14,794 conserved acres
64% of Hanover Township’s land. Who manages Hanover Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources14,768 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits20 ac
Town or city9 ac
State Conservation Area · 14,768 acOther Easement · 20 acLocal Park · 9 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cadillac State Forest Area State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 14,768 | Open |
| Village Park Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
Things to do
7 places to go in Hanover Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Hanover Township
3 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Playgrounds in Hanover Township
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in Hanover Township
Harvey Bridge River AccessIn Pere Marquette State Forest - Cadillac Unit
DirectionsPlus 1 boat launch without a name on the map.
Campgrounds in Hanover Township
1 campground without a name on the map.
Trails & water
5 named trails and 3 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 11.2 miUnpaved · 62.0 mi
North Country National Scenic Trail10.6 mi
Kenabeck Trail0.1 mi
Blue Spruce Trail0.1 mi
High Rollaways0.1 mi
Nokomis Trail0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.8 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.8 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
2Baseball
1Football
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Hanover 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 | 14.8 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°F) | 28 | 31 | 41 | 54 | 67 | 77 | 81 | 79 | 71 | 57 | 44 | 33 |
| Rain (in) | 2.3 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 3.1 | 3.3 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 3.3 | 4.1 | 2.9 | 2.4 |
February is the driest month (1.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 4.1 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Hanover Township →
Next door
Hanover Township and its neighbors
Hanover Township has the most mapped trails of the 5 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Hanover Township78 miAntioch Township54 miGreenwood Township42 miWexford Township26 miMayfield Township12 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hanover Township | 64% | 2.2 | 8,347 | 81% | A+ |
| Greenwood Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Mayfield Township | 2% | 0.3 | under 1 | 1% | C− |
| Antioch Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Wexford Township | 20% | 0.7 | 4,406 | 20% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Hanover Township
Where can I hike in Hanover Township?
The longest trail networks: Pere Marquette State Forest - Cadillac Unit, 73 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Hanover Township is conserved land?
64% 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 Hanover Township’s trails?
Pere Marquette State Forest - Cadillac Unit and Kohn Family Nature Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Hanover Township?
0.8 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.8 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Hanover Township?
86,735 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Hanover Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 14,916 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Hanover Township have?
Among the top 1% 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 Hanover 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 →