McNabb Park
Park
122 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Ithaca Downtown Historic District · Photo: H. G. Zimmerman & Co · Public domainBOutdoors
Outdoors in Ithaca
Ithaca has 290 acres of parks, 103 for every 1,000 residents
0.2 miles of mapped trail cross Ithaca. 81% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 5% of Ithaca’s land is conserved, about 169 acres.
Ahead of 61% of U.S. towns · #359 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
169 acres · of 5.7 sq mi of land
Trails
0.2 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
290 ac
103 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
81%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.5 mi
3.5 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Ithaca?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Ithaca have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Ithaca is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns, #359 of 701 in Michigan. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Ithaca’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land103 acres of park per 1,000 residents (290 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13AParks close to home81% 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 61%
LessMore
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 49%
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 McNabb Park, with 0.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Atkinson Park
Managed by City of Ithaca
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
169 conserved acres
5% of Ithaca’s land. Who manages Ithaca’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County137 ac
Town or city27 ac
Other state land4 ac
Local Park · 165 acConservation Easement · 4 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gratiot County Farm Local Park | County | 137 | Open |
| Woodland Park Local Park | Town or city | 27 | Open |
Things to do
9 places to go in Ithaca
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Ithaca
8 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Ithaca
Ithaca Dog ParkIn Woodland Park
DirectionsBiking & sports
3.5 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
3.5 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
4Basketball
4Soccer
4Baseball
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The best walking months in Ithaca: 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 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 30 | 33 | 43 | 57 | 69 | 79 | 83 | 80 | 73 | 60 | 46 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 2.1 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 3.5 | 3.7 | 3.6 | 3.2 | 3.6 | 2.8 | 3.2 | 2.6 | 2.0 |
February is the driest month (1.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 3.7 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Ithaca →
Next door
Ithaca 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ithaca | 5% | under 0.1 | 103 | 81% | B |
| North Star Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Newark Township | 3% | under 0.1 | 70 | 6% | C |
| Arcada Township | 1% | under 0.1 | 111 | 33% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Ithaca
Where can I hike in Ithaca?
The longest trail networks: McNabb Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Ithaca 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 Ithaca’s trails?
OpenStreetMap records dogs as welcome at Woodland Park (on leash). For the rest, check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Ithaca?
3.5 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.5 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Ithaca?
16,316 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Ithaca or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 290 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Ithaca have?
Ahead of 61% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #359 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 Ithaca 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 →