North Park
Managed by City of Harbor Beach
98 acres2.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto PFC Brian "Doc" Backus Memorial Nature Trail Parking Lot
Photo: Aaron Linville · CC BY-SA 4.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Harbor Beach
Harbor Beach has 169 acres of parks, 107 for every 1,000 residents
3.2 miles of mapped trail cross Harbor Beach, 1.9 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: North Park (2.2 mi). 8% of Harbor Beach’s land is conserved, about 92 acres.
Ahead of 93% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
8%
92 acres · of 1.7 sq mi of land
Trails
3.2 mi
1.9 per sq mi of land
Park land
169 ac
107 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
83%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.6 mi
1.6 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Harbor Beach?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Harbor Beach have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Harbor Beach is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; trail miles rank highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Harbor Beach’s overall grade.
Conserved land8% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%B+Trails1.9 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (3 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4APark land107 acres of park per 1,000 residents (169 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13AParks close to home83% 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 93%
LessMore
Water is 16% of Harbor Beach’s area (0 of 2 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 7%.
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
The longest trail network is North Park, with 2.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Thumb Area Underwater Preserve
Nature preserve
212 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Waterworks Park
Managed by City of Harbor Beach
40 acres0.2 mi of trail
Harbor View Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Judge James H. Lincoln Memorial Park
Managed by City of Harbor Beach
20 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 6 parks & preserves
North Park98 acres · 2.2 mi of trail · City of Harbor Beach
DirectionsWaterworks Park40 acres · 0.2 mi of trail · City of Harbor Beach
DirectionsJudge James H. Lincoln Memorial Park20 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · City of Harbor Beach
DirectionsThumb Area Underwater Preserve212 acres
DirectionsDavidson Park7 acres · City of Harbor Beach
DirectionsMemorial Park1 acres · City of Harbor Beach
DirectionsWho protects it
92 conserved acres
8% of Harbor Beach’s land. Water is left out: Harbor Beach has 1.7 square miles of land and 0.3 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Harbor Beach’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Private owners91 ac
Town or city1 ac
Private Park · 57 acPrivate Recreation or Education · 34 acLocal Park · 1 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harbor Beach Golf Course Private Park | Private owners | 57 | Restricted |
| North Park Campground Private Recreation or Education | Private owners | 34 | Open |
| Village Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
15 places to go in Harbor Beach
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Harbor Beach
Bathing Beach ParkIn Judge James H. Lincoln Memorial Park
DirectionsPlus 2 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Playgrounds in Harbor Beach
6 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Boat launches in Harbor Beach
5 boat launches without a name on the map.
Fishing spots in Harbor Beach
Trescott Street PierIn Thumb Area Underwater Preserve
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Unpaved · 0.6 mi
Harbor View Trail0.1 mi
Biking & sports
1.6 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.6 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
6Tennis
5Baseball
4Basketball
2Pickleball
1Football
1Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Harbor Beach: 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) | 9.3 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 29 | 31 | 39 | 51 | 62 | 72 | 77 | 77 | 70 | 58 | 45 | 34 |
| Rain (in) | 2.3 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 3.2 | 3.3 | 3.2 | 3.0 | 3.3 | 3.1 | 3.0 | 2.5 | 2.2 |
February is the driest month (1.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 77 °F). 3.3 inches fall in August, the wettest month. The climate in Harbor Beach →
Questions about parks and trails in Harbor Beach
Where can I hike in Harbor Beach?
The longest trail networks: North Park, 2.2 miles; Waterworks Park, 0.2 miles; Judge James H. Lincoln Memorial Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Harbor Beach is conserved land?
8% 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 Harbor Beach’s trails?
North Park and Thumb Area Underwater Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Harbor Beach?
1.6 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.6 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Harbor Beach?
2,040 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Harbor Beach or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 169 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Harbor Beach have?
Ahead of 93% 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 Harbor Beach 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 →