Sussan Creek Nature Preserve
Nature preserve
250 acres2.9 mi of trail
Blue TrailYellow Loop (Winter Only)Red Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Greensky Hill Mission · Photo: rossograph · CC BY-SA 4.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Hayes Township
Hayes Township has 715 acres of parks, 398 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Sussan Creek Nature Preserve (2.9 mi), Nathan "Barry" Driggers Memorial Nature Preserve (1.9 mi), Taylor Horton Creek Nature Preserve (1.8 mi). 24 miles of mapped trail cross Hayes Township, 0.8 per square mile of land. 7% of Hayes Township’s land is conserved, about 1,327 acres.
Ahead of 76% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
7%
1,327 acres · of 30.1 sq mi of land
Trails
24 mi
0.8 per sq mi of land
Park land
715 ac
398 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
33%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
10 mi
10 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
1 beach · 4 boat launches
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 76% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Hayes Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land7% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.8 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (24 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land398 acres of park per 1,000 residents (715 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13AParks close to home33% 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 76%
LessMore
Water is 30% of Hayes Township’s area (13 of 43 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 5%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B 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 Sussan Creek Nature Preserve, with 2.9 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Nathan "Barry" Driggers Memorial Nature Preserve
Nature preserve
71 acres1.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Taylor Horton Creek Nature Preserve
Nature preserve
148 acres1.8 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Charles A. Ransom Nature Preserve
Nature preserve
79 acres1.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Schulz Working Forest Reserve
Nature preserve
38 acres1.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 21 parks & preserves
Sussan Creek Nature Preserve250 acres · 2.9 mi of trail
DirectionsNathan "Barry" Driggers Memorial Nature Preserve71 acres · 1.9 mi of trail
DirectionsTaylor Horton Creek Nature Preserve148 acres · 1.8 mi of trail
DirectionsCharles A. Ransom Nature Preserve79 acres · 1.5 mi of trail
DirectionsSchulz Working Forest Reserve38 acres · 1.2 mi of trail
Driggers Trail Easement Nature Preserve2 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Undine Nature Preserve104 acres
Charlevoix 1 Working Forest Reserve41 acres
Hayes Township Park37 acres
DirectionsHorton Creek Wetlands Nature Preserve33 acres
Oyster Bay Nature Preserve21 acres
Camp Seagull20 acres · Hayes Township
DirectionsHorton Creek Nature Preserve19 acres
Mulberry Farm Nature Preserve13 acres
Haggerty Nature Preserve10 acres
Verlinden Nature Preserve8 acres
Loeb Nature Preserve4 acres
DirectionsNick Adams Nature Preserve2 acres
Slosar Family Addition to the Kieren Memorial Nature Preserve1 acres
Susan Lake Boating Access Site1 acres · Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Eastern Avenue Beach Park1 acres · Hayes Townshp
DirectionsWho protects it
1,327 conserved acres
7% of Hayes Township’s land. Water is left out: Hayes Township has 30.1 square miles of land and 13.1 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Hayes Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits902 ac
Private owners345 ac
Town or city78 ac
Other state land2 ac
Private Conservation · 861 acPrivate Park · 345 acLocal Conservation Area · 78 acPrivate Forest Stewardship · 42 acConservation Easement · 2 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 2 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 22 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Susan Creek Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 310 | Open |
| Dunmaglas Golf Course Private Park | Private owners | 252 | Restricted |
| Taylor Horton Creek Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 143 | Open |
| Undine Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 102 | Closed |
| Charlevoix Country Club Private Park | Private owners | 93 | Restricted |
| Ransom Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 81 | Closed |
| Ransom Preserve Local Conservation Area | Town or city | 78 | Open |
| Driggers Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 71 | Unknown |
| Charlevoix 1 Private Forest Stewardship | Land trusts & nonprofits | 42 | Closed |
| Schulz Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 37 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
5 places to go in Hayes Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Hayes Township
1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in Hayes Township
4 boat launches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
3 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 7.8 mi
Blue Trail1.3 mi
Red Trail1.0 mi
Yellow Loop (Winter Only)1.0 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
10 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
10 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
9Tennis
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).
Greensky Hill MissionBuilding · listed 1972
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Hayes Township: May to August
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) | 9.1 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.9 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.4 | 8.7 |
| High (°F) | 27 | 29 | 39 | 51 | 65 | 74 | 78 | 77 | 70 | 56 | 43 | 33 |
| Rain (in) | 2.2 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 2.9 | 3.1 | 3.1 | 2.9 | 3.2 | 3.8 | 4.4 | 3.0 | 2.5 |
February is the driest month (1.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 78 °F). 4.4 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Hayes Township →
Next door
Hayes Township and its neighbors
Hayes Township has the most mapped trails of the 6 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Hayes Township24 miCharlevoix Township17 miResort Township16 miBay Township14 miEveline Township12 miHorton Bay2.6 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hayes Township | 7% | 0.8 | 398 | 33% | A− |
| Charlevoix Township | 26% | 2.8 | 421 | 68% | A+ |
| Bay Township | 5% | 0.9 | 390 | 31% | B+ |
| Horton Bay | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Eveline Township | 2% | 0.4 | 185 | 23% | B− |
| Resort Township | 5% | 0.8 | 90 | 40% | 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: Sussan Creek Nature Preserve, 2.9 miles; Nathan "Barry" Driggers Memorial Nature Preserve, 1.9 miles; Taylor Horton Creek Nature Preserve, 1.8 miles; Charles A. Ransom Nature Preserve, 1.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Hayes Township is conserved land?
7% 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?
Sussan Creek Nature Preserve and Nathan "Barry" Driggers Memorial Nature Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Hayes Township?
10 miles of bike routes are on the map: 10 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Hayes Township?
8,924 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Hayes Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 715 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Hayes Township have?
Ahead of 76% 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 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 →