Au Sable State Forest - Gladwin Unit
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
3,940 acres3.1 mi of trail
Midland to Mackinaw Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
BOutdoors
Outdoors in Mills Township
Mills Township has 2,500 acres of parks, 1,475 for every 1,000 residents
11% of Mills Township’s land is conserved, about 2,479 acres. The biggest trail networks: Au Sable State Forest - Gladwin Unit (3.1 mi), Mills Township Park (1 mi). 13% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 64% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
11%
2,479 acres · of 35.6 sq mi of land
Trails
8.2 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
2,500 ac
1,475 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
13%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
2
What kind of outdoors town is Mills Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Mills Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Mills Township is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Mills Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land11% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (8 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land1,475 acres of park per 1,000 residents (2,500 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home13% 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 64%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ 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 - Gladwin Unit, with 3.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Mills Township Park
Managed by Mills Township
154 acres1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Who protects it
2,479 conserved acres
11% of Mills Township’s land. Who manages Mills Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State fish & wildlife2,319 ac
Town or city165 ac
State Conservation Area · 2,319 acLocal Park · 165 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kawkawlin Creek Flooding State Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 2,319 | Open |
| Mills Township Park Local Park | Town or city | 165 | Open |
Things to do
3 places to go in Mills Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Mills Township
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
1 named trail and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 3.1 mi
Midland to Mackinaw Trail3.1 mi
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
3Baseball
1Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Mills 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 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 30 | 32 | 43 | 56 | 69 | 78 | 82 | 80 | 73 | 60 | 46 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 1.9 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 3.3 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.0 | 3.4 | 2.6 | 2.9 | 2.3 | 1.9 |
February is the driest month (1.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 3.5 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Mills Township →
Next door
Mills Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Larkin Township19 miBentley Township14 miMills Township8.2 miHope Township1.0 miGarfield Township0.6 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mills Township | 11% | 0.2 | 1,475 | 13% | B |
| Hope Township | 4% | under 0.1 | 374 | under 1% | C+ |
| Bentley Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Larkin Township | 1% | 0.6 | 28 | 17% | C+ |
| Garfield Township | 3% | under 0.1 | 286 | 16% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Mills Township
Where can I hike in Mills Township?
The longest trail networks: Au Sable State Forest - Gladwin Unit, 3.1 miles; Mills Township Park, 1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Mills Township is conserved land?
11% 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 Mills Township’s trails?
Au Sable State Forest - Gladwin Unit and Mills Township Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Mills Township?
10,039 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Mills Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 2,500 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Mills Township have?
Ahead of 64% 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 Mills 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 →