Portage Lake Public Access
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
6 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Marantette Bridge · Photo: rossograph · CC BY-SA 4.0DOutdoors
Outdoors in Mendon Township
Few parks or trails are on the map in Mendon Township
0.1 miles of mapped trail cross Mendon Township. 42% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 14 acres are parks and preserves, 5.2 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 11% of U.S. towns · #681 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
8 acres · of 34.9 sq mi of land
Trails
0.1 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
14 ac
5.2 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
42%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
2
2 boat launches
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Mendon Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Mendon Township is ahead of 11% of U.S. towns, #681 of 701 in Michigan. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park comes closest.
D
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Mendon Township’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%DTrails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4DPark land5.2 acres of park per 1,000 residents (14 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13CParks close to home42% 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 11%
LessMore
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 3%
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Mendon Township. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Reed Riverside Park
Managed by Village of Mendon
3 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Saint Joseph River Access
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
2 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it
8 conserved acres
under 1% of Mendon Township’s land. Who manages Mendon Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city5 ac
Other state land2 ac
Local Park · 5 acConservation Easement · 2 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reed Riverside Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Kings Daughters Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Mendon Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in Mendon Township
Mendon Boat Launch
DirectionsPortage Lake Boat LaunchIn Portage Lake Public Access
DirectionsTrails & water
2 lakes & rivers
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
5Baseball
2Football
1Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The best walking months in Mendon Township: April and 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) | 9.4 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 32 | 35 | 46 | 59 | 71 | 80 | 83 | 81 | 75 | 62 | 48 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.3 | 1.9 | 2.2 | 3.4 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.4 | 3.7 | 2.7 | 2.2 |
February is the driest month (1.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.2 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Mendon Township →
Next door
Mendon Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Leonidas Township1.7 miNottawa Township1.3 miPark Township0.8 miBrady Township0.5 miMendon Township0.1 miWakeshma Township0.0 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mendon Township | under 1% | under 0.1 | 5 | 42% | D |
| Park Township | 1% | under 0.1 | 37 | 10% | C− |
| Leonidas Township | under 1% | under 0.1 | 47 | 8% | C− |
| Nottawa Township | 1% | under 0.1 | 23 | 42% | C |
| Brady Township | 3% | under 0.1 | 6 | 18% | C− |
| Wakeshma Township | 3% | under 0.1 | 448 | 8% | C |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Mendon Township
Where can I hike in Mendon Township?
The longest trail networks: Reed Riverside Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Mendon Township is conserved land?
under 1% 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 Mendon Township’s trails?
Portage Lake Public Access and Reed Riverside Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Mendon Township?
4,570 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Mendon Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 14 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Mendon Township have?
Ahead of 11% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #681 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 Mendon 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 →