Au Sable State Forest - Roscommon Unit
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
10,298 acres5.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
AOutdoors
Outdoors in Lake Township
Lake Township has 4,731 acres of parks, 3,982 for every 1,000 residents
32% of Lake Township’s land is conserved, about 4,727 acres. The biggest trail networks: Au Sable State Forest - Roscommon Unit (5.9 mi), Houghton Lake Flats Flooding State Wildlife Management Area (0.5 mi). 9.6 miles of mapped trail cross Lake Township, 0.4 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 90% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
32%
4,727 acres · of 23.1 sq mi of land
Trails
9.6 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
4,731 ac
3,982 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
68%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.1 mi
0.1 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
1 beach · 4 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Lake Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Lake Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Lake Township is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; park acres per resident rank highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Lake Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land32% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%A+Trails0.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (10 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4BPark land3,982 acres of park per 1,000 residents (4,731 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home68% 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 90%
LessMore
Water is 35% of Lake Township’s area (12 of 35 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 21%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− 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 Au Sable State Forest - Roscommon Unit, with 5.9 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Houghton Lake Flats Flooding State Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
1,642 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Pere Marquette State Forest - Cadillac Unit
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
8 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Houghton Lake Public Water Access Site
Park
6 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
4,727 conserved acres
32% of Lake Township’s land. Water is left out: Lake Township has 23.1 square miles of land and 12.3 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Lake Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State fish & wildlife2,553 ac
State natural resources1,854 ac
Private owners315 ac
Other state land5 ac
State Conservation Area · 4,407 acPrivate Park · 315 acConservation Easement · 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural Area Dead Stream Swamp State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 1,854 | Open |
| Houghton Lake Flats North Flooding State Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 1,714 | Open |
| Dead Stream Flooding State Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 839 | Open |
| Eureka Hunt Club Private Park | Private owners | 315 | Open |
Things to do
8 places to go in Lake Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Lake Township
1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Playgrounds in Lake Township
1 playground without a name on the map.
Boat launches in Lake Township
4 boat launches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Campgrounds in Lake Township
Houghton Lake State Forest CampgroundIn Au Sable State Forest - Roscommon Unit
DirectionsWest Houghton Lake Campground
DirectionsTrails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.1 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.1 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Lake Township: July to 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) | 9.2 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 28 | 31 | 41 | 54 | 68 | 77 | 81 | 79 | 71 | 58 | 43 | 33 |
| Rain (in) | 2.0 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 3.3 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 3.0 | 3.1 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 2.1 |
February is the driest month (1.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 3.6 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Lake Township →
Next door
Lake Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Roscommon Township250 miLyon Township93 miEnterprise Township24 miGerrish Township24 miMarkey Township16 miLake Township9.6 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Township | 32% | 0.4 | 3,982 | 68% | A |
| Markey Township | 9% | 0.5 | 533 | 57% | A− |
| Enterprise Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Lyon Township | 20% | 3.1 | 3,051 | 22% | A |
| Roscommon Township | 13% | 2.4 | 1,488 | 21% | A |
| Gerrish Township | 5% | 0.9 | 297 | 9% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Lake Township
Where can I hike in Lake Township?
The longest trail networks: Au Sable State Forest - Roscommon Unit, 5.9 miles; Houghton Lake Flats Flooding State Wildlife Management Area, 0.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Lake Township is conserved land?
32% 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 Township’s trails?
Au Sable State Forest - Roscommon Unit and Houghton Lake Flats Flooding State Wildlife Management Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Lake Township?
0.1 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.1 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Lake Township?
85,123 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Lake Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 4,731 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Lake Township have?
Ahead of 90% 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 Lake 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 →