Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
St. Ignace Mission · Photo: Andrew Jameson · CC BY-SA 3.01,067 acres are parks and preserves, 1,069 per 1,000 residents. 237 miles of mapped trail cross Moran Township, 1.9 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Lake Superior State Forest - Sault Ste. Marie Unit (132.7 mi), Straits State Park (0.8 mi).
Ahead of 91% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Moran Township is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
Water is 5% of Moran Township’s area (7 of 134 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 41%.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
The longest trail network is Lake Superior State Forest - Sault Ste. Marie Unit, with 132.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
43% of Moran Township’s land. Water is left out: Moran Township has 127.6 square miles of land and 6.8 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Moran Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 28 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hiawatha National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 34,175 | Open |
| Natural Area Little Brevort Lake Scenic Site State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 736 | Open |
| St. Helena Island Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 271 | Open |
| Father Marquette National Memorial Unknown | State natural resources | 76 | Open |
| Fred Dye State Conservation Area | Land trusts & nonprofits | 29 | Open |
| Gros Cap State Conservation Area | Land trusts & nonprofits | 2 | Open |
| Poupard Bay Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 1 | Open |
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Plus 1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Plus 1 boat launch without a name on the map.
Plus 1 campground without a name on the map.
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
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) | 9.0 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 14.9 | 15.7 | 15.4 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.4 | 8.7 |
| High (°F) | 25 | 26 | 37 | 49 | 63 | 72 | 76 | 75 | 68 | 54 | 41 | 31 |
| Rain (in) | 1.9 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 2.7 | 2.8 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.1 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 2.8 | 2.3 |
February is the driest month (1.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 76 °F). 4.2 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Moran Township →
Moran Township has the most mapped trails of the 6 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moran Township | 43% | 1.9 | 1,069 | 24% | A |
| Brevort Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Hendricks Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| St. Ignace | 7% | 2.0 | 13 | 95% | A |
| St. Ignace Township | 78% | 0.6 | under 1 | under 1% | C+ |
| Trout Lake Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
The longest trail networks: Lake Superior State Forest - Sault Ste. Marie Unit, 132.7 miles; Straits State Park, 0.8 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
43% 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.
Lake Superior State Forest - Sault Ste. Marie Unit and Straits State Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
12 miles of bike routes are on the map: 12 of off-road paths and 0.1 of shoulders and shared lanes.
210,129 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Moran Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 34,000 of them inside the town line.
Ahead of 91% 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.
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Moran Township neighbors.
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 →