Bay City State Park
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
1,597 acres2.4 mi of trail
Tobico Marsh Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
BOutdoors
Outdoors in Kawkawlin Township
Kawkawlin Township has 1,774 acres of parks, 404 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Bay City State Park (2.4 mi). 9% of Kawkawlin Township’s land is conserved, about 1,857 acres. 43% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 65% of U.S. towns · #334 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Conserved land
9%
1,857 acres · of 32.4 sq mi of land
Trails
4.1 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
1,774 ac
404 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
43%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Kawkawlin Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Kawkawlin Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Kawkawlin Township is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns, #334 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 Kawkawlin Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land9% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (4 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4CPark land404 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,774 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13AParks close to home43% 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 65%
LessMore
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 52%
Water is 22% of Kawkawlin Township’s area (9 of 41 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 7%.
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 Bay City State Park, with 2.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Kawkawlin Township Park
Managed by Kawkawlin Township
47 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Linwood Bicentennial Park
Park
2 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
1,857 conserved acres
9% of Kawkawlin Township’s land. Water is left out: Kawkawlin Township has 32.4 square miles of land and 9.0 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Kawkawlin Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources1,600 ac
Private owners154 ac
Town or city86 ac
Other state land53 ac
County38 ac
State Recreation Area · 1,600 acLocal Park · 86 acPrivate Recreation or Education · 75 acPrivate Park · 63 acConservation Easement · 41 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bay City Recreation Area State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 1,600 | Open |
| Bay City Bowmen Private Recreation or Education | Private owners | 75 | Open |
| Spring Valley Golf Club Private Park | Private owners | 63 | Restricted |
| Kawkawlin Township Park Local Park | Town or city | 53 | Open |
| Local Forest Local Resource Management Area | County | 38 | Open |
| Township of Kawkawlin Park Local Park | Town or city | 33 | Open |
| Utility Corridor Private Other or Unknown | Private owners | 16 | Open |
| Forest Reserve State Conservation Area | Other state land | 12 | Open |
Things to do
9 places to go in Kawkawlin Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Kawkawlin Township
5 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Playgrounds in Kawkawlin Township
2 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Boat launches in Kawkawlin Township
2 boat launches without a name on the map.
Trails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Open to bikes · 1.5 miUnpaved · 3.7 mi
Tobico Marsh Trail1.5 mi
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
7Baseball
4Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Kawkawlin 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) | 30 | 32 | 42 | 55 | 68 | 78 | 82 | 80 | 73 | 60 | 46 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 1.9 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 3.2 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 2.7 | 3.0 | 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 August, the wettest month. The climate in Kawkawlin Township →
Next door
Kawkawlin 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kawkawlin Township | 9% | 0.1 | 404 | 43% | B |
| Monitor Township | 1% | under 0.1 | 5 | 30% | D |
| Bangor Township | 11% | 0.4 | 60 | 46% | B+ |
| Fraser Township | 12% | 0.4 | 647 | 55% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Kawkawlin Township
Where can I hike in Kawkawlin Township?
The longest trail networks: Bay City State Park, 2.4 miles; Kawkawlin Township Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Kawkawlin Township is conserved land?
9% 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 Kawkawlin Township’s trails?
Bay City State Park and Kawkawlin Township Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Kawkawlin Township?
10,621 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Kawkawlin Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,774 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Kawkawlin Township have?
Ahead of 65% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #334 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 Kawkawlin 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 →