Copper Country State Forest - Crystal Falls Unit
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
32,727 acres104.3 mi of trail
ORV TrailTailings Silt Flats
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: RomanKahler · CC BY-SA 4.0A+Outdoors
Outdoors in Norway Township
More than half of Norway Township’s land is conserved: 62%
62% of Norway Township’s land is conserved, about 34,879 acres. 34,785 acres are parks and preserves, 19,531 per 1,000 residents. 143 miles of mapped trail cross Norway Township, 1.6 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 96% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
62%
34,879 acres · of 87.8 sq mi of land
Trails
143 mi
1.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
34,785 ac
19,531 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
60%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.5 mi
0.3 mi paths
Highest peak
1,322 ft
Briar Hill
Lakes & rivers
21
6 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Norway Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Norway Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Norway Township is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Norway Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land62% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%A+Trails1.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (143 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4APark land19,531 acres of park per 1,000 residents (34,785 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home60% of residents within a half mile of a park · MI 50% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 96%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A 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 Copper Country State Forest - Crystal Falls Unit, with 104.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Menominee River State Recreation Area - Piers Gorge Unit
Managed by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
47 acres0.7 mi of trail
Verso Paper Route 2
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Dickinson County Fairgrounds
Managed by Dickinson County
82 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Hanbury Lake Park
Managed by City of Norway
2 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
34,879 conserved acres
62% of Norway Township’s land. Who manages Norway Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources30,956 ac
State fish & wildlife3,505 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)203 ac
Town or city157 ac
County42 ac
State parks13 ac
Bureau of Land Management2 ac
State Conservation Area · 34,461 acConservation Easement · 203 acLocal Conservation Area · 155 acLocal Recreation Area · 37 acState Recreation Area · 13 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 203 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crystal Falls State Forest Area State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 30,835 | Open |
| Groveland Mine Flooding State Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 3,505 | Open |
| Norway Township Local Conservation Area | Town or city | 155 | Open |
| MNRTF Parcel State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 121 | Restricted |
| Dickinson County Fairgrounds Local Recreation Area | County | 37 | Open |
| Menominee River Recreation Area State Recreation Area | State parks | 13 | Open |
| Marion Park Local Park | County | 5 | Open |
| Hanbury Lake Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Northeastern States District Office National Public Lands | Bureau of Land Management | 2 | Open |
Things to do
11 places to go in Norway Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in Norway Township
Carney Lake Boat Launch
DirectionsHanbury Lake Boat LaunchIn Hanbury Lake Park
DirectionsNorway Reservoir Boat Launch
DirectionsPond #1 Boat LaunchIn Copper Country State Forest - Crystal Falls Unit
DirectionsRock Lake Boat LaunchIn Copper Country State Forest - Crystal Falls Unit
DirectionsSouth Lake Boat LaunchIn Copper Country State Forest - Crystal Falls Unit
DirectionsPeaks in Norway Township
Briar Hill1,322 ft elevation
DirectionsCampgrounds in Norway Township
Carney Lake State Forest CampgroundIn Copper Country State Forest - Crystal Falls Unit
DirectionsPlus 3 campgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
11 named trails and 21 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 7.3 mi
Jackalope1.7 mi
Pine Creek Pass #91.7 mi
Bear Hunt1.4 mi
Ez-Eh1.2 mi
Line Dance D0.7 mi
Verso Paper Route 20.7 mi
ORV Trail0.6 mi
Panorama0.6 mi
Tailings Silt Flats0.5 mi
Racing Stripes0.4 mi
1 more trails
Squatch Rocket
0.2 miLakes & rivers tap for directions
Benton LakeCarney LakelakeCrystal LakeGustafson LakelakeHanbury LakelakeLake TwentynineLittle Crystal LakelakeLittle Lost LakelakeLyons LakeMiller LakelakeMoon LakePine Creek LakeRock LakelakeScott LakelakeSouth PondlakeToby LakelakeToms LakelakeHamilton CreekMenominee RiverSturgeon RiverWest Branch Sturgeon River
Biking & sports
3.5 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.3 mi
off-road bike paths
3.2 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
1Equestrian
1Basketball
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Norway Township: May and August
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) | 24 | 28 | 39 | 52 | 66 | 76 | 80 | 78 | 69 | 55 | 40 | 29 |
| Rain (in) | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.6 | 2.7 | 3.3 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.0 | 3.4 | 3.2 | 2.0 | 1.6 |
February is the driest month (1.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 3.5 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Norway Township →
Next door
Norway Township and its neighbors
Norway Township has the second most mapped trails of the 8 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Felch Township185 miNorway Township143 miSagola Township141 miWaucedah Township96 miBreitung Township61 miNiagara33 miFaithorn Township31 miNorway12 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norway Township | 62% | 1.6 | 19,531 | 60% | A+ |
| Norway | 6% | 1.2 | 90 | 91% | A |
| Waucedah Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Breitung Township | 15% | 1.0 | 1,039 | 52% | A |
| Felch Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Sagola Township | 38% | 0.9 | 42,894 | 66% | A |
| Faithorn 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.
Questions about parks and trails in Norway Township
Where can I hike in Norway Township?
The longest trail networks: Copper Country State Forest - Crystal Falls Unit, 104.3 miles; Menominee River State Recreation Area - Piers Gorge Unit, 0.7 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Norway Township is conserved land?
62% 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 Norway Township’s trails?
Copper Country State Forest - Crystal Falls Unit and Menominee River State Recreation Area - Piers Gorge Unit don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Norway Township?
3.5 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.3 of off-road paths and 3.2 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Norway Township?
184,256 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Norway Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 34,787 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Norway Township have?
Ahead of 96% 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 Norway 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 →