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Ishpeming Municipal Building 2009Photo: Andrew Jameson · CC BY-SA 3.0
B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Ishpeming

Ishpeming has 72 miles of mapped trails, 8.2 for every square mile of land

2% of Ishpeming’s land is conserved, about 102 acres. 104 acres are parks and preserves, 17 per 1,000 residents. 73% of residents live within a half mile of a park.

Ahead of 73% of U.S. towns · #261 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it

Conserved land
2%
102 acres · of 8.7 sq mi of land
Trails
72 mi
8.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
104 ac
17 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
73%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
4.4 mi
4.4 mi paths
Highest peak
1,499 ft
Pilot Knob
Lakes & rivers
8
2 boat launches

What kind of outdoors town is Ishpeming?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

A trail town8.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, among the top 1% of U.S. towns.History along the way6 places on the National Register.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Ishpeming have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Ishpeming is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns, #261 of 701 in Michigan. Trail miles hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.

B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Ishpeming’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%C+Trails8.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (72 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4A+Park land17 acres of park per 1,000 residents (104 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13BParks close to home73% of residents within a half mile of a park · MI 50% · U.S. 72%B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 73%
LessMore
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 63%

Water is 6% of Ishpeming’s area (1 of 9 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 2%.

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.

1
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 RAMBA Trailhead - The HOB, with 0.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

RAMBA Trailhead - The HOB

Managed by RAMBA
4 acres0.3 mi of trail
HOBbit Loop
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Who protects it

102 conserved acres

2% of Ishpeming’s land. Water is left out: Ishpeming has 8.7 square miles of land and 0.6 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Ishpeming’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

Town or city100 ac
Other state land3 ac
Local Park · 87 acLocal Recreation Area · 12 acConservation Easement · 3 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 3 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Al Quall Recreation Area
Local Park
Town or city47Open
Ishpeming Playground Park
Local Park
Town or city38Open
Mather Baseball Park
Local Recreation Area
Town or city12Open
Lake Bancroft Park
Local Park
Town or city2Open
Things to do

14 places to go in Ishpeming

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Scenic views in Ishpeming
Cedar Lake Overlook
Directions
Two Lookouts
Directions

Plus 3 scenic views without a name on the map.

Trails & water

25 named trails and 8 lakes & rivers

Named trails
Open to bikes · 25.3 miUnpaved · 0.6 mi
Bacon Strip1.5 mi
Last Bluff1.4 mi
Old 561.3 mi
Rock 'n Roll1.3 mi
Lookout Loop1.2 mi
Angeline1.1 mi
Pine Snake1.0 mi
Daisy Bluff1.0 mi
Coyote Den0.9 mi
.38 Special0.9 mi
15 more trails
Lower Last Bluff
0.8 mi
Fence Line
0.8 mi
Baby Lake Trail
0.8 mi
Marv's Maze
0.7 mi
Deer Shit
0.7 mi
Carroll Jackson Trail
0.6 mi
Ugly Betty
0.6 mi
Frying Pan
0.6 mi
Dead Deer
0.6 mi
Wolf Scat
0.6 mi
Hill Street to .38 Special
0.5 mi
Brasswire Beginner Trail
0.5 mi
Camelback
0.5 mi
Snake's Back
0.5 mi
Old Dump
0.4 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Baby LakeGrass LakelakeLake AngelineLake BaconlakeLake BancroftlakeLake Minnie (Cedar Lake)lakeLake SallyreservoirLittle Lake
Biking & sports

4.4 miles of bike routes

Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.

4.4 mi
off-road bike paths
Snow Bike Trail (SBT)Bike route
14.8 mi
Other TrailsBike route
13 mi
Section 16 LoopBike route
10.1 mi
Epic LoopBike route
8.9 mi
Al Quaal LoopBike route
8.8 mi
Malton LoopBike route
4.9 mi
No Boots LoopBike route
2.3 mi
Malton-Epic ConnectorBike route
0.7 mi
Courts & fields
8Tennis
8Baseball
3Basketball
1Football

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

6 places on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).

History →
Mather InnBuilding · listed 1978
About it
Ishpeming Municipal BuildingBuilding · listed 1981
About it
Cliffs Shaft MineDistrict · listed 1992
About it
Cleveland Mine Engine House Number 3Building · listed 2007
About it
Braastad-Gossard BuildingBuilding · listed 2015
About it
Ishpeming Main Street Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2021
About it
When to get out

The best walking months in Ishpeming: May and 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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.010.311.813.515.015.815.514.212.510.89.38.6
High (°F)212536486373777567533826
Rain (in)1.71.51.92.83.23.43.62.93.73.62.42.0

February is the driest month (1.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 77 °F). 3.7 inches fall in September, the wettest month. The climate in Ishpeming →

Next door

Ishpeming and its neighbors

Ishpeming has the second most mapped trails of the 5 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Ishpeming Township97 miIshpeming72 miNegaunee68 miTilden Township39 miWest Ishpeming0.1 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Ishpeming2%8.21773%B+
Ishpeming Township2%1.18168%B+
Tilden Township10%0.45,0956%B+
Negaunee1%5.17389%A−
West Ishpeming— 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 Ishpeming

Where can I hike in Ishpeming?

The longest trail networks: RAMBA Trailhead - The HOB, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Ishpeming is conserved land?

2% 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 Ishpeming’s trails?

RAMBA Trailhead - The HOB doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Where can I bike in Ishpeming?

4.4 miles of bike routes are on the map: 4.4 of off-road paths. Named routes: Snow Bike Trail (SBT), Other Trails and Section 16 Loop.

Is there public land near Ishpeming?

4,457 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Ishpeming or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 104 of them inside the city line.

How much outdoors does Ishpeming have?

Ahead of 73% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #261 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 Ishpeming neighbors.

Town Square →
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 →