Resort Township Pioneer Trails
Park
129 acres3.5 mi of trail
Pioneer Trails - RedPioneer Trails - YellowPioneer Trails - BluePioneer Trails - Orange+1
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: User:Hgjudd · CC BY-SA 3.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Resort Township
Resort Township has 255 acres of parks, 90 for every 1,000 residents
16 miles of mapped trail cross Resort Township, 0.8 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Resort Township Pioneer Trails (3.5 mi), Cherry Lane Natural Area (1.8 mi), The Fields Preserve (1.4 mi). 5% of Resort Township’s land is conserved, about 618 acres.
Ahead of 72% of U.S. towns · #266 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
618 acres · of 19.1 sq mi of land
Trails
16 mi
0.8 per sq mi of land
Park land
255 ac
90 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
40%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.3 mi
1.3 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Resort Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Resort Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Resort Township is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns, #266 of 701 in Michigan. 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 Resort Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.8 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (16 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land90 acres of park per 1,000 residents (255 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13AParks close to home40% 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 72%
LessMore
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 62%
Water is 11% of Resort Township’s area (2 of 22 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 4%.
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 Resort Township Pioneer Trails, with 3.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Cherry Lane Natural Area
Nature preserve
90 acres1.8 mi of trail
Cherry Lane Trail LoopCherry Lane Shortcut
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
The Fields Preserve
Nature preserve
108 acres1.4 mi of trail
Blue TrailRed Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Indian Garden Nature Area
Managed by Walloon Lake Association and Conservancy
98 acres1.3 mi of trail
Indian Garden TrailBlue TrailOrange Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Raycroft-Meijer South Nature Preserve
Nature preserve
43 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Bubbling Springs Nature Preserve
Nature preserve
17 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 13 parks & preserves
Resort Township Pioneer Trails129 acres · 3.5 mi of trail
Cherry Lane Natural Area90 acres · 1.8 mi of trail
The Fields Preserve108 acres · 1.4 mi of trail
Indian Garden Nature Area98 acres · 1.3 mi of trail · Walloon Lake Association and Conservancy
DirectionsRaycroft-Meijer South Nature Preserve43 acres · 0.6 mi of trail
Bubbling Springs Nature Preserve17 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
DirectionsRaycroft-Meijer North Nature Preserve14 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Robinson Nature Preserve Honoring Gold Star Families Nature Preserve5 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsSchoof's Creek Natural Area116 acres
Covert Nature Preserve79 acres
Kinglet Nature Preserve76 acres
Duval Preserve28 acres
East Park2 acres
Who protects it
618 conserved acres
5% of Resort Township’s land. Water is left out: Resort Township has 19.1 square miles of land and 2.5 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Resort Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Private owners308 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits240 ac
Town or city70 ac
Private Park · 308 acPrivate Conservation · 240 acLocal Conservation Area · 67 acLocal Park · 2 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 8 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crooked Tree Golf Club Private Park | Private owners | 308 | Restricted |
| Covert Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 86 | Closed |
| Kinglet Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 78 | Unknown |
| Reycraft Woodland Preserve Local Conservation Area | Town or city | 67 | Open |
| Reycraft-Meijer South Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 43 | Open |
| Bubbling Springs Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 21 | Unknown |
| Reycraft-Meijer North Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 14 | Open |
| East Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Resort Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Resort Township
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
11 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 0.6 mi
Blue Trail2.1 mi
Cherry Lane Trail Loop1.6 mi
Pioneer Trails - Red1.0 mi
Pioneer Trails - Yellow1.0 mi
Indian Garden Trail0.9 mi
Pioneer Trails - Blue0.7 mi
Orange Trail0.5 mi
Pioneer Trails - Orange0.4 mi
Pioneer Trails0.3 mi
Red Trail0.3 mi
1 more trails
Cherry Lane Shortcut
0.1 miLakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
1.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.3 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
2Tennis
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register, one a National Historic Landmark
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.
When to get out
The best walking months in Resort Township: May to 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) | 9.1 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.9 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.4 | 8.7 |
| High (°F) | 27 | 29 | 39 | 51 | 65 | 74 | 78 | 77 | 70 | 56 | 43 | 33 |
| Rain (in) | 2.3 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 2.9 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 2.9 | 3.2 | 3.8 | 4.4 | 3.1 | 2.6 |
February is the driest month (1.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 78 °F). 4.4 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Resort Township →
Next door
Resort Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Bear Creek Township39 miMelrose Township31 miPetoskey29 miEvangeline Township26 miHayes Township24 miResort Township16 miBay Township14 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resort Township | 5% | 0.8 | 90 | 40% | B+ |
| Bay Township | 5% | 0.9 | 390 | 31% | B+ |
| Petoskey | 19% | 5.6 | 45 | 96% | A+ |
| Melrose Township | 2% | 1.0 | 39 | 33% | B |
| Bear Creek Township | 3% | 1.0 | 88 | 30% | B+ |
| Evangeline Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Hayes Township | 7% | 0.8 | 398 | 33% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Resort Township
Where can I hike in Resort Township?
The longest trail networks: Resort Township Pioneer Trails, 3.5 miles; Cherry Lane Natural Area, 1.8 miles; The Fields Preserve, 1.4 miles; Indian Garden Nature Area, 1.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Resort Township is conserved land?
5% 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 Resort Township’s trails?
Resort Township Pioneer Trails and Cherry Lane Natural Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Resort Township?
1.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.3 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Resort Township?
6,314 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Resort Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 255 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Resort Township have?
Ahead of 72% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #266 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 Resort 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 →