Valley Center Park
Park
11 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
DOutdoors
Outdoors in Monitor Township
Few parks or trails are on the map in Monitor Township
The biggest trail networks: Valley Center Park (0.6 mi). 1.4 miles of mapped trail cross Monitor Township. 30% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 14% of U.S. towns · #665 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
135 acres · of 36.8 sq mi of land
Trails
1.4 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
49 ac
4.6 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
30%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
2
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Monitor Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Monitor Township is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns, #665 of 701 in Michigan. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; park acres per resident come closest.
D
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Monitor Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%C−Trails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land4.6 acres of park per 1,000 residents (49 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13CParks close to home30% 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 14%
LessMore
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 5%
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Monitor 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
The longest trail network is Valley Center Park, with 0.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Monitor Township Park
Park
18 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
135 conserved acres
1% of Monitor Township’s land. Who manages Monitor Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Private owners93 ac
Town or city21 ac
Other state land20 ac
Private Other or Unknown · 93 acLocal Park · 21 acState Conservation Area · 17 acConservation Easement · 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Utility Corridor Private Other or Unknown | Private owners | 93 | Open |
| Monitor Township Park Local Park | Town or city | 20 | Open |
| Forest Reserve State Conservation Area | Other state land | 17 | Open |
| Township of Monitor Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Trails & 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
15Soccer
5Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Monitor 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 | 33 | 43 | 56 | 69 | 79 | 82 | 80 | 73 | 60 | 47 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 1.9 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 3.3 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.0 | 3.6 | 2.7 | 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 August, the wettest month. The climate in Monitor Township →
Next door
Monitor Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Frankenlust Township15 miBay City10 miWilliams Township7.7 miBangor Township5.5 miKawkawlin Township4.1 miMonitor Township1.4 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monitor Township | 1% | under 0.1 | 5 | 30% | D |
| Kawkawlin Township | 9% | 0.1 | 404 | 43% | B |
| Frankenlust Township | 12% | 0.7 | 228 | 28% | A− |
| Bangor Township | 11% | 0.4 | 60 | 46% | B+ |
| Williams Township | 2% | 0.2 | 19 | 22% | C+ |
| Bay City | 4% | 1.0 | 10 | 96% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Monitor Township
Where can I hike in Monitor Township?
The longest trail networks: Valley Center Park, 0.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Monitor Township is conserved land?
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 Monitor Township’s trails?
Valley Center Park and Monitor Township Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Monitor Township?
13,848 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Monitor Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 49 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Monitor Township have?
Ahead of 14% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #665 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 Monitor 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 →