Grand River State Game Area
Managed by Michigan DNR - Wildlife Division
914 acres2.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Ionia Township
Ionia Township has 887 acres of parks, 220 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Grand River State Game Area (2.2 mi). 23% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 4.6 miles of mapped trail cross Ionia Township, 0.1 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 53% of U.S. towns · #426 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
1,034 acres · of 33.5 sq mi of land
Trails
4.6 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
887 ac
220 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
23%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
5.0 mi
4.8 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Ionia Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Ionia Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Ionia Township is ahead of 53% of U.S. towns, #426 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 Ionia Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (5 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land220 acres of park per 1,000 residents (887 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13AParks close to home23% 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 53%
LessMore
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 39%
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 Grand River State Game Area, with 2.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Ionia Natural Area
Managed by Mid-Michigan Land Conservancy
6 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Fred W. Green Park
Park
2 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
1,034 conserved acres
5% of Ionia Township’s land. Who manages Ionia Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State fish & wildlife864 ac
Private owners143 ac
County15 ac
State natural resources10 ac
Town or city2 ac
State Conservation Area · 864 acPrivate Park · 143 acLocal Recreation Area · 15 acState Recreation Area · 10 acLocal Park · 2 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand River State Game Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 864 | Open |
| Rolling Hills Golf Course Private Park | Private owners | 72 | Restricted |
| Shadow Ridge Golf Course Private Park | Private owners | 71 | Restricted |
| Ionia Free Fairgrounds Local Recreation Area | County | 15 | Restricted |
| Fred Meijer Heartland Trail State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 10 | Open |
| Fred W Green Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Ionia Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Ionia Township
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
5.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
4.8 mi
off-road bike paths
0.3 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
When to get out
The best walking months in Ionia 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) | 9.3 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.7 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 31 | 33 | 44 | 57 | 69 | 79 | 83 | 81 | 74 | 61 | 47 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 2.3 | 1.8 | 2.2 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 3.2 | 3.5 | 2.9 | 3.5 | 2.7 | 2.1 |
February is the driest month (1.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 3.8 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Ionia Township →
Next door
Ionia Township and its neighbors
Ionia Township has the second most mapped trails of the 5 towns around it. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ionia Township | 5% | 0.1 | 220 | 23% | B− |
| Ionia | 6% | 0.5 | 45 | 87% | A− |
| Lyons Township | 2% | 0.1 | 159 | 65% | B− |
| Ronald Township | 1% | under 0.1 | 1 | 2% | D |
| Berlin Township | 17% | 0.8 | 2,425 | 34% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Ionia Township
Where can I hike in Ionia Township?
The longest trail networks: Grand River State Game Area, 2.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Ionia Township is conserved land?
5% 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 Ionia Township’s trails?
Grand River State Game Area and Ionia Natural Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Ionia Township?
5.0 miles of bike routes are on the map: 4.8 of off-road paths and 0.3 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Ionia Township?
18,697 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Ionia Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 887 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Ionia Township have?
Ahead of 53% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #426 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 Ionia 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 →