Lake Superior State Forest - Sault Ste. Marie Unit
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
16,030 acres9.5 mi of trail
South Old Mackinac TrailSouth Mongene Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
BOutdoors
Outdoors in Kinross Township
47% of Kinross Township’s land is conserved: 36,360 acres
102 miles of mapped trail cross Kinross Township, 0.9 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Lake Superior State Forest - Sault Ste. Marie Unit (9.5 mi), Kinross Township Park (0.9 mi). 3% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 55% of U.S. towns · #405 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Conserved land
47%
36,360 acres · of 119.7 sq mi of land
Trails
102 mi
0.9 per sq mi of land
Park land
39 ac
5.7 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
3%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
18
2 beaches
What kind of outdoors town is Kinross Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Kinross Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Kinross Township is ahead of 55% of U.S. towns, #405 of 701 in Michigan. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Kinross Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land47% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%A+Trails0.9 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (102 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land5.7 acres of park per 1,000 residents (39 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13CParks close to home3% 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 55%
LessMore
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 42%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C 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 Lake Superior State Forest - Sault Ste. Marie Unit, with 9.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Kinross Township Park
Park
22 acres0.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Kinross Heritage Park & Military Museum
Park
13 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Kinross Lake Park
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
36,360 conserved acres
47% of Kinross Township’s land. Who manages Kinross Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Forest Service35,982 ac
Private owners263 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)109 ac
Town or city6 ac
National Forest · 35,982 acPrivate Park · 263 acConservation Easement · 109 acLocal Park · 6 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 109 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hiawatha National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 35,982 | Open |
| Kincheloe Golf Course Private Park | Private owners | 263 | Restricted |
| Kinross Township Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
Things to do
3 places to go in Kinross Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Kinross Township
Dukes Lake BeachIn Lake Superior State Forest - Sault Ste. Marie Unit
DirectionsPlus 1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Campgrounds in Kinross Township
Three Lakes Campground
DirectionsTrails & water
10 named trails and 18 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 1.2 miHorses · 0.9 miUnpaved · 11.1 mi
North Country Trail6.0 mi
West Arbutus Truck Trail3.8 mi
South Old Mackinac Trail1.9 mi
Arbutus Truck Trail1.1 mi
South Harrington Trail1.0 mi
South Mongene Trail0.6 mi
West Horton Trail0.6 mi
U S F S Footpath0.5 mi
West Streeter Trail0.5 mi
CM ORV Route0.3 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
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
3Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 3 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Kinross Township Hall and SchoolBuilding · listed 2004
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Kinross Township: May to 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.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 9.0 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 15.0 | 15.8 | 15.4 | 14.2 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.3 | 8.6 |
| High (°F) | 24 | 26 | 36 | 49 | 64 | 73 | 77 | 76 | 68 | 54 | 41 | 30 |
| Rain (in) | 2.1 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 2.6 | 2.7 | 3.0 | 3.3 | 3.2 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 3.1 | 2.6 |
February is the driest month (1.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 77 °F). 4.2 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Kinross Township →
Next door
Kinross Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Chippewa Township162 miTrout Lake Township142 miSuperior Township119 miKinross Township102 miPickford Township33 miDafter Township6.0 miRudyard Township4.7 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kinross Township | 47% | 0.9 | 6 | 3% | B |
| Rudyard Township | 17% | 0.1 | 105 | 27% | B |
| Chippewa Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Superior Township | 59% | 1.2 | 88 | 14% | A− |
| Pickford Township | 17% | 0.3 | 5,413 | 18% | B+ |
| Trout Lake Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Dafter Township | 1% | 0.1 | 21 | 5% | C |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Kinross Township
Where can I hike in Kinross Township?
The longest trail networks: Lake Superior State Forest - Sault Ste. Marie Unit, 9.5 miles; Kinross Township Park, 0.9 miles; Kinross Heritage Park & Military Museum, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Kinross Township is conserved land?
47% 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 Kinross Township’s trails?
Lake Superior State Forest - Sault Ste. Marie Unit and Kinross Township Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Kinross Township?
269,803 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Kinross Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 24,768 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Kinross Township have?
Ahead of 55% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #405 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 Kinross 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 →