Au Sable State Forest - Gladwin Unit
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
769 acres0.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
BOutdoors
Outdoors in Hayes Township
Hayes Township has 509 acres of parks, 109 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Au Sable State Forest - Gladwin Unit (0.9 mi). 40% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 11 miles of mapped trail cross Hayes Township, 0.4 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 58% of U.S. towns · #382 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
506 acres · of 31.3 sq mi of land
Trails
11 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
509 ac
109 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
40%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
7
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Hayes Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Hayes Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Hayes Township is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns, #382 of 701 in Michigan. 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 Hayes Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (11 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land109 acres of park per 1,000 residents (509 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13AParks close to home40% of residents within a half mile of a park · MI 50% · U.S. 72%C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 58%
LessMore
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 46%
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 Au Sable State Forest - Gladwin Unit, with 0.9 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Hayes Township Outdoor Park
Managed by Hayes Township
13 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Who protects it
506 conserved acres
3% of Hayes Township’s land. Who manages Hayes Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Private owners392 ac
Town or city68 ac
Other state land46 ac
Private Recreation or Education · 197 acPrivate Park · 195 acLocal Park · 68 acState Conservation Area · 46 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mitten Bay Girl Scout Council Private Recreation or Education | Private owners | 197 | Open |
| HiCal Hunt Club Private Park | Private owners | 173 | Open |
| Clark Memorial Park Local Park | Town or city | 60 | Open |
| State Forest State Conservation Area | Other state land | 46 | Open |
| Harrison Sportsman Club Private Park | Private owners | 22 | Open |
| Unknown Park Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Hayes Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in Hayes Township
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Campgrounds in Hayes Township
Camp Oak Hill
DirectionsTrails & water
2 named trails and 7 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 1.7 mi
Spikehorn Super Highway0.9 mi
Hazel0.3 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Courts & fields
2Tennis
1Basketball
1Soccer
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Hayes Township: 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) | 28 | 31 | 41 | 54 | 68 | 77 | 81 | 79 | 71 | 58 | 44 | 33 |
| Rain (in) | 2.1 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 2.9 | 3.3 | 2.2 | 2.1 |
February is the driest month (1.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 3.7 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Hayes Township →
Next door
Hayes Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Hatton Township46 miFrost Township38 miHamilton Township15 miHayes Township11 miGreenwood Township6.8 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hayes Township | 3% | 0.4 | 109 | 40% | B |
| Frost Township | 3% | 1.1 | 565 | 27% | B+ |
| Hatton Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Greenwood Township | 3% | 0.2 | 301 | 16% | B− |
| Hamilton Township | 5% | 0.4 | 599 | 15% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Hayes Township
Where can I hike in Hayes Township?
The longest trail networks: Au Sable State Forest - Gladwin Unit, 0.9 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Hayes Township is conserved land?
3% 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 Hayes Township’s trails?
Au Sable State Forest - Gladwin Unit and Hayes Township Outdoor Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Hayes Township?
24,192 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Hayes Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 509 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Hayes Township have?
Ahead of 58% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #382 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 Hayes 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 →