Mackinaw State Forest - Gaylord Unit
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
11,605 acres45.1 mi of trail
Between the Pigeons TrailHoffman TrailState TrailSouth Branch Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Koehler Township
Koehler Township has 431 acres of parks, 472 for every 1,000 residents
72 miles of mapped trail cross Koehler Township, 1.7 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Mackinaw State Forest - Gaylord Unit (45.1 mi), Boyd B. Banwell Nature Preserve (4.7 mi), Agnes S. Andreae Nature Preserve (0.6 mi). 9% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 74% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
6%
1,565 acres · of 43.6 sq mi of land
Trails
72 mi
1.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
431 ac
472 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
9%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
965 ft
Blats Hill
Lakes & rivers
7
7 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Koehler Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Koehler Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Koehler Township is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns. 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 Koehler Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land6% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%BTrails1.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (72 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4APark land472 acres of park per 1,000 residents (431 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home9% 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 74%
LessMore
Water is 5% of Koehler Township’s area (2 of 46 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 5%.
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 Mackinaw State Forest - Gaylord Unit, with 45.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Boyd B. Banwell Nature Preserve
Managed by Little Traverse Conservancy
420 acres4.7 mi of trail
South Branch Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Agnes S. Andreae Nature Preserve
Nature preserve
66 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Afton Softball Field
Managed by Koehler Township
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
1,565 conserved acres
6% of Koehler Township’s land. Water is left out: Koehler Township has 43.6 square miles of land and 2.4 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Koehler Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources1,111 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits431 ac
Other state land22 ac
Conservation Easement · 1,133 acPrivate Conservation · 431 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1,133 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 7 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Banwell Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 379 | Open |
| Andreae Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 53 | Closed |
Things to do
8 places to go in Koehler Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in Koehler Township
7 boat launches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Peaks in Koehler Township
Blats Hill965 ft elevation · In Mackinaw State Forest - Gaylord Unit
DirectionsTrails & water
8 named trails and 7 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 15.9 mi
South Branch Trail2.8 mi
Between the Pigeons Trail2.0 mi
Highbanks Trail1.9 mi
English Trail1.6 mi
Hoffman Trail1.3 mi
State Trail1.2 mi
Kiadzyk Trail0.9 mi
Riverwoods Trail0.5 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
2Tennis
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Koehler 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) | 9.1 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 14.9 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.4 | 8.7 |
| High (°F) | 27 | 29 | 39 | 52 | 67 | 76 | 80 | 78 | 71 | 57 | 43 | 32 |
| Rain (in) | 1.9 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 2.7 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 3.0 | 3.1 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 2.5 | 2.2 |
February is the driest month (1.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 3.8 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Koehler Township →
Next door
Koehler Township and its neighbors
Koehler Township has the second most mapped trails of the 7 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Waverly Township135 miKoehler Township72 miEllis Township54 miTuscarora Township44 miAloha Township20 miMullett Township18 miIndian River15 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Koehler Township | 6% | 1.7 | 472 | 9% | B+ |
| Indian River | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Tuscarora Township | 2% | 1.5 | 100 | 55% | A− |
| Waverly Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Ellis Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Mullett Township | under 1% | 0.9 | 233 | 34% | B |
| Aloha Township | — 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 Koehler Township
Where can I hike in Koehler Township?
The longest trail networks: Mackinaw State Forest - Gaylord Unit, 45.1 miles; Boyd B. Banwell Nature Preserve, 4.7 miles; Agnes S. Andreae Nature Preserve, 0.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Koehler Township is conserved land?
6% 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 Koehler Township’s trails?
Mackinaw State Forest - Gaylord Unit and Boyd B. Banwell Nature Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Koehler Township?
57,052 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Koehler Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 431 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Koehler Township have?
Ahead of 74% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 Koehler 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 →