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AOutdoors
Outdoors in Lincoln Township

40% of Lincoln Township’s land is conserved: 9,071 acres

58 miles of mapped trail cross Lincoln Township, 1.6 per square mile of land. 169 acres are parks and preserves, 106 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Diamond Lake County Park (2.5 mi).

Ahead of 90% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Conserved land
40%
9,071 acres · of 35.1 sq mi of land
Trails
58 mi
1.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
169 ac
106 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
36%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
8
2 beaches

What kind of outdoors town is Lincoln Township?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Land that stays wild40% of the land is conserved; a typical Michigan town, 5%.A trail town1.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 90% of U.S. towns.Room to roam106 acres of park per 1,000 residents; the typical U.S. town has 13.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Lincoln Township have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Lincoln Township is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.

A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Lincoln Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land40% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%A+Trails1.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (58 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4APark land106 acres of park per 1,000 residents (169 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13AParks close to home36% 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 90%
LessMore
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.

12
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 Diamond Lake County Park, with 2.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Diamond Lake County Park

Park
153 acres2.5 mi of trail
Birch Grove Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailhead

White River Roadside Park

Managed by Michigan Department of Transportation
6 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it

9,071 conserved acres

40% of Lincoln Township’s land. Who manages Lincoln Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

U.S. Forest Service8,801 ac
County148 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits114 ac
Town or city7 ac
Other state land1 ac
National Forest · 8,801 acLocal Other or Unknown · 148 acConservation Easement · 115 acLocal Park · 7 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 115 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Manistee National Forest
National Forest
U.S. Forest Service8,801Open
Newaygo Prairies-Steelcase, Inc 2
Local Other or Unknown
County148Open
Diamond Lake Park
Local Park
Town or city7Open
Things to do

8 places to go in Lincoln Township

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Campgrounds in Lincoln Township
Minnie Pond CampgroundHours: Open 24 hours · United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Huron-Manistee National Forests
Directions
Sites 1 - 16In Diamond Lake County Park · Newaygo County Parks & Recreation
Directions
Sites 17 - 27In Diamond Lake County Park · Newaygo County Parks & Recreation
Directions
Sites 30 - 62In Diamond Lake County Park · Newaygo County Parks & Recreation
Directions

Plus 2 campgrounds without a name on the map.

Trails & water

23 named trails and 8 lakes & rivers

Named trails
Open to bikes · 8.0 miUnpaved · 28.6 mi
North Country National Scenic Trail9.3 mi
MCCCT Bwc Trail4.7 mi
MCCCT Trail2.9 mi
Birch Grove Trail2.1 mi
NFS 51842.0 mi
Newaygo-Wellston SMT DNR32.0 mi
NFS 51791.8 mi
NFS 95781.3 mi
NFS 57711.2 mi
Loda Lake Trail1.1 mi
13 more trails
NFS 9646
0.9 mi
SMT LP3
0.8 mi
NFS 9575
0.5 mi
NFS 9577
0.5 mi
Old Railroad Grade
0.4 mi
NFS 9777
0.4 mi
NFS 9569
0.4 mi
Unmarked Trail
0.4 mi
NFS 9561
0.3 mi
NFS 9556
0.3 mi
NFS 9557
0.2 mi
NFS 5772
0.2 mi
Loda Lake Trail / Birch Grove Trail
0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Blacksmith LakeDiamond LakelakeEgg LakelakeHoyt LakelakeLoda LakelakeMinnie LakereservoirTrout LakepondWhite River (South Branch)
When to get out

The best walking months in Lincoln Township: June 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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.310.411.813.414.715.415.114.012.410.99.68.9
High (°F)293343566978828072594534
Rain (in)2.41.92.33.73.73.53.23.43.14.03.12.4

February is the driest month (1.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 4.0 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Lincoln Township →

Next door

Lincoln Township and its neighbors

Lincoln Township has the second most mapped trails of the 5 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Merrill Township81 miLincoln Township58 miSherman Township14 miWilcox Township14 miDenver Township6.3 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Lincoln Township40%1.610636%A
Merrill Township— not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Sherman Township24%0.41885%B+
Denver Township14%0.2635%C+
Wilcox Township29%0.4163%B

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in Lincoln Township

Where can I hike in Lincoln Township?

The longest trail networks: Diamond Lake County Park, 2.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Lincoln Township is conserved land?

40% 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 Lincoln Township’s trails?

Diamond Lake County Park and White River Roadside Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Is there public land near Lincoln Township?

90,790 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Lincoln Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 8,823 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does Lincoln 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 Lincoln Township neighbors.

Town Square →
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 →