Photo: TheKuLeR · CC BY-SA 3.0Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Lake Orion
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 0.7 miles of mapped trail cross Lake Orion, 0.9 per square mile of land. 14 acres are parks and preserves, 5.0 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 68% of U.S. towns · #301 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Lake Orion?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Lake Orion have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Lake Orion is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns, #301 of 701 in Michigan. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
Water is 40% of Lake Orion’s area (1 of 1 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 1%.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Pick a walk
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
All 7 parks & preserves
12 conserved acres
2% of Lake Orion’s land. Water is left out: Lake Orion has 0.8 square miles of land and 0.5 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Lake Orion’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atwater Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Meeks Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Green Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| Unger Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| Children'S Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
8 places to go in Lake Orion
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
8 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
1 lakes & rivers
1.4 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
The best walking months in Lake Orion: August 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) | 9.4 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 30 | 33 | 43 | 57 | 69 | 78 | 82 | 80 | 73 | 60 | 46 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 2.0 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 3.0 | 3.9 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 3.3 | 3.0 | 2.8 | 2.5 | 2.0 |
February is the driest month (1.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 3.9 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Lake Orion →
Questions about parks and trails in Lake Orion
How much of Lake Orion 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 Lake Orion’s trails?
Atwater Park and Paint Creek Trail don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Lake Orion?
1.4 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.8 of off-road paths and 0.6 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Lake Orion?
16,401 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Lake Orion or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 14 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Lake Orion have?
Ahead of 68% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #301 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 Lake Orion neighbors.
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 →