Escanaba River State Forest - Escanaba Unit
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
5,055 acres3.8 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Harris Township
Harris Township has 1,034 acres of parks, 565 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Escanaba River State Forest - Escanaba Unit (3.8 mi). 8% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 71 miles of mapped trail cross Harris Township, 0.5 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 50% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
1,106 acres · of 143.2 sq mi of land
Trails
71 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
1,034 ac
565 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
8%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
6.5 mi
6.5 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
9
What kind of outdoors town is Harris Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Harris Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Harris Township is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Harris Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (71 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4BPark land565 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,034 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home8% of residents within a half mile of a park · MI 50% · U.S. 72%D
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 50%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. 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 Escanaba River State Forest - Escanaba Unit, with 3.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
1,106 conserved acres
1% of Harris Township’s land. Who manages Harris Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Other state land981 ac
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service87 ac
Town or city40 ac
Private Recreation or Education · 975 acConservation Easement · 93 acLocal Conservation Area · 40 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 91 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of Michigan Private Recreation or Education | Other state land | 975 | Open |
| Harris Township Local Conservation Area | Town or city | 40 | Open |
Things to do
3 places to go in Harris Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Harris Township
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Peaks in Harris Township
1 peak without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
4 named trails and 9 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 2.6 mi
Felch grade ORV Route7.5 mi
Gaber Rd H3.9 mi
Felch Grade ORV Route0.8 mi
North County Road 5570.6 mi
Biking & sports
6.5 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
6.5 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
1Baseball
1Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
August is the best month for walking in Harris Township
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) | 9.0 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 14.9 | 15.7 | 15.4 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.4 | 8.7 |
| High (°F) | 25 | 29 | 39 | 52 | 66 | 76 | 81 | 79 | 70 | 56 | 42 | 30 |
| Rain (in) | 1.4 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 2.7 | 3.2 | 3.3 | 3.5 | 2.9 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 2.2 | 1.7 |
February is the driest month (1.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 3.5 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Harris Township →
Next door
Harris Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Wells Township119 miSpalding Township97 miHarris Township71 miEscanaba Township52 miCornell Township50 miGourley Township37 miBark River Township36 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harris Township | 1% | 0.5 | 565 | 8% | B− |
| Spalding Township | 1% | 0.6 | 371 | 26% | B− |
| Gourley Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Bark River Township | under 1% | 0.8 | 84 | 22% | B− |
| Cornell Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Escanaba Township | under 1% | 0.9 | under 1 | 1% | C− |
| Wells Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Harris Township
Where can I hike in Harris Township?
The longest trail networks: Escanaba River State Forest - Escanaba Unit, 3.8 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Harris 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 Harris Township’s trails?
Escanaba River State Forest - Escanaba Unit doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Harris Township?
6.5 miles of bike routes are on the map: 6.5 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Harris Township?
7,657 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Harris Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,034 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Harris Township have?
Ahead of 50% 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 Harris 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 →