Turtle Lake Club
Nature preserve
9,486 acres44.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Ossineke Township
Ossineke Township has 5,786 acres of parks, 3,129 for every 1,000 residents
116 miles of mapped trail cross Ossineke Township, 1.1 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Turtle Lake Club (44.4 mi), Mackinac State Forest - Atlanta Unit (26.8 mi). 9% of Ossineke Township’s land is conserved, about 6,016 acres.
Ahead of 80% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
9%
6,016 acres · of 105.7 sq mi of land
Trails
116 mi
1.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
5,786 ac
3,129 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
23%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
2
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Ossineke Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Ossineke Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Ossineke Township is ahead of 80% 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 Ossineke Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land9% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%B+Trails1.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (116 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land3,129 acres of park per 1,000 residents (5,786 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home23% 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 80%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B 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 Turtle Lake Club, with 44.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Mackinac State Forest - Atlanta Unit
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
5,652 acres26.8 mi of trail
Loop C / Loop 3Loop D / Loop 4Chippewa Hills Race TrailsBig Rock+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailhead
Beaver Lake County Park
Park
11 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Colby Plant Preserve
Managed by Michigan Nature Association
5 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
6,016 conserved acres
9% of Ossineke Township’s land. Who manages Ossineke Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources5,727 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits256 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)23 ac
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service11 ac
County3 ac
Other state land1 ac
State Conservation Area · 5,727 acConservation Easement · 285 acPrivate Conservation · 6 acLocal Park · 3 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 279 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta State Forest Area State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 5,727 | Open |
| Colby Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 6 | Open |
| Beaver Lake County Park Local Park | County | 3 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Ossineke Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in Ossineke Township
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
10 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 10.3 miHorses · 8.0 miUnpaved · 31.6 mi
Loop C / Loop 32.7 mi
Chippewa Hills Race Trails2.3 mi
Loop D / Loop 42.3 mi
Big Rock1.8 mi
Loop B / Loop 21.3 mi
Loop A / Loop 11.2 mi
Outlook0.6 mi
Four Climbs0.5 mi
Red Gate0.2 mi
Setup to Whoopie Hill0.2 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.
Mountain Bike TrailsBike route
3.3 miLoop CBike route
2.7 miLoop DBike route
2.3 miLoop BBike route
1.3 miChippewa Hills PathwayBike route
1.2 miLoop ABike route
1.2 miConnectorsBike route
0.5 miCourts & fields
2Pickleball
2Tennis
2Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Ossineke Township: May, June 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) | 9.1 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°F) | 27 | 30 | 39 | 52 | 65 | 75 | 80 | 78 | 71 | 57 | 44 | 33 |
| Rain (in) | 1.8 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 2.9 | 3.0 | 2.9 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 2.9 | 3.0 | 2.1 | 2.0 |
February is the driest month (1.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 3.5 inches fall in August, the wettest month. The climate in Ossineke Township →
Next door
Ossineke Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Mitchell Township224 miRust Township126 miOssineke Township116 miCaledonia Township77 miWilson Township28 miGreen Township19 miSanborn Township13 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ossineke Township | 9% | 1.1 | 3,129 | 23% | A− |
| Mitchell Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Caledonia Township | under 1% | 1.1 | 102 | 22% | B− |
| Wilson Township | 16% | 0.4 | 3,790 | 35% | A− |
| Green Township | 3% | 0.3 | 1,446 | 21% | B |
| Sanborn Township | 19% | 0.3 | 2,372 | 31% | A− |
| Rust 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 Ossineke Township
Where can I hike in Ossineke Township?
The longest trail networks: Turtle Lake Club, 44.4 miles; Mackinac State Forest - Atlanta Unit, 26.8 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Ossineke Township is conserved land?
9% 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 Ossineke Township’s trails?
Turtle Lake Club and Mackinac State Forest - Atlanta Unit don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Ossineke Township?
53,562 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Ossineke Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 5,786 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Ossineke Township have?
Ahead of 80% 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 Ossineke 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 →