Au Sable State Forest - Gladwin Unit
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
1,215 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Hope Township
Hope Township has 622 acres of parks, 374 for every 1,000 residents
1.0 miles of mapped trail cross Hope Township. 4% of Hope Township’s land is conserved, about 638 acres.
Ahead of 39% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
4%
638 acres · of 23.0 sq mi of land
Trails
1.0 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
622 ac
374 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
under 1%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Hope Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Hope Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Hope Township is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Hope Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land4% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land374 acres of park per 1,000 residents (622 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13AParks close to home0% 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 39%
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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
638 conserved acres
4% of Hope Township’s land. Who manages Hope Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State fish & wildlife595 ac
Town or city26 ac
Other state land17 ac
State Conservation Area · 595 acLocal Park · 26 acConservation Easement · 17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kawkawlin Creek Flooding State Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 595 | Open |
| Park Local Park | Town or city | 26 | Open |
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
2Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Hope Township: July and 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 | 32 | 43 | 56 | 69 | 78 | 82 | 80 | 73 | 60 | 46 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 1.9 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 3.3 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.0 | 3.4 | 2.6 | 2.9 | 2.3 | 1.9 |
February is the driest month (1.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 3.5 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Hope Township →
Next door
Hope Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hope Township | 4% | under 0.1 | 374 | under 1% | C+ |
| Billings Township | 2% | 0.1 | 102 | 14% | C+ |
| Mills Township | 11% | 0.2 | 1,475 | 13% | B |
| Lincoln Township | 4% | 0.5 | 186 | 50% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Hope Township
How much of Hope Township is conserved land?
4% 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 Hope Township’s trails?
Au Sable State Forest - Gladwin Unit doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Hope Township?
10,541 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Hope Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 622 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Hope Township have?
Ahead of 39% 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 Hope 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 →