Merritt Township Park
Managed by Merritt Township
33 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Merritt Township
Merritt Township has 191 acres of parks, 136 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Merritt Township Park (0.7 mi). 9% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 1.4 miles of mapped trail cross Merritt Township.
Ahead of 40% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
4%
826 acres · of 31.6 sq mi of land
Trails
1.4 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
191 ac
136 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
9%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Merritt Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Merritt Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Merritt Township is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Merritt Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land4% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land136 acres of park per 1,000 residents (191 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13AParks 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 40%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B. 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 Merritt Township Park, with 0.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Quanicassee State Wildlife Area
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
245 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
826 conserved acres
4% of Merritt Township’s land. Who manages Merritt Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Private owners563 ac
State fish & wildlife171 ac
State natural resources79 ac
Town or city38 ac
Private Other or Unknown · 563 acState Conservation Area · 250 acLocal Park · 38 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Utility Corridor Private Other or Unknown | Private owners | 563 | Open |
| Quanicassee State Wildlife Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 250 | Open |
| Township of Merritt Park Local Park | Town or city | 30 | Open |
| Land Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
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
2Baseball
1Equestrian
1Basketball
1Tennis
1Pickleball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Merritt Township: July 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) | 9.3 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 30 | 33 | 43 | 56 | 69 | 79 | 82 | 80 | 73 | 60 | 47 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 1.9 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 3.2 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 3.2 | 3.5 | 2.8 | 3.0 | 2.3 | 1.9 |
February is the driest month (1.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 3.6 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Merritt Township →
Next door
Merritt Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Hampton Township14 miBuena Vista Township11 miPortsmouth Township3.4 miGilford Township1.8 miMerritt Township1.4 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merritt Township | 4% | under 0.1 | 136 | 9% | C+ |
| Hampton Township | 14% | 0.5 | 107 | 53% | A− |
| Portsmouth Township | 5% | 0.2 | 25 | 11% | C+ |
| Gilford Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Buena Vista Township | 3% | 0.3 | 42 | 50% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Merritt Township
Where can I hike in Merritt Township?
The longest trail networks: Merritt Township Park, 0.7 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Merritt Township is conserved land?
4% 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 Merritt Township’s trails?
Merritt Township Park and Quanicassee State Wildlife Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Merritt Township?
11,123 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Merritt Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 191 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Merritt Township have?
Ahead of 40% 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 Merritt 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 →