Lake Superior State Forest - Sault Ste. Marie Unit
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
951 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
BOutdoors
Outdoors in Rudyard Township
Rudyard Township has 118 acres of parks, 105 for every 1,000 residents
17% of Rudyard Township’s land is conserved, about 9,817 acres. 4.7 miles of mapped trail cross Rudyard Township, 0.1 per square mile of land. 27% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 58% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
17%
9,817 acres · of 89.7 sq mi of land
Trails
4.7 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
118 ac
105 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
27%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
3
What kind of outdoors town is Rudyard Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Rudyard Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Rudyard Township is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Rudyard Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land17% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (5 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land105 acres of park per 1,000 residents (118 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13AParks close to home27% 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 58%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Rudyard Township Park
Park
23 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
9,817 conserved acres
17% of Rudyard Township’s land. Who manages Rudyard Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Forest Service6,842 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)2,809 ac
Town or city115 ac
Other state land51 ac
National Forest · 6,842 acConservation Easement · 2,859 acLocal Conservation Area · 83 acLocal Park · 33 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 2,859 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hiawatha National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 6,842 | Open |
| Sandhill Crane Feeding Grounds Local Conservation Area | Town or city | 83 | Open |
| Rudyard Township Park Local Park | Town or city | 33 | Open |
Trails & water
3 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
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Rudyard 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) | 9.0 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 15.0 | 15.8 | 15.4 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.3 | 8.6 |
| High (°F) | 24 | 26 | 37 | 49 | 64 | 74 | 78 | 76 | 68 | 54 | 41 | 30 |
| Rain (in) | 2.0 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 2.6 | 2.7 | 3.0 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 3.7 | 4.1 | 3.0 | 2.5 |
February is the driest month (1.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 78 °F). 4.1 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Rudyard Township →
Next door
Rudyard Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Trout Lake Township142 miKinross Township102 miMarquette Township58 miPickford Township33 miRudyard Township4.7 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rudyard Township | 17% | 0.1 | 105 | 27% | B |
| Kinross Township | 47% | 0.9 | 6 | 3% | B |
| Trout Lake Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Pickford Township | 17% | 0.3 | 5,413 | 18% | B+ |
| Marquette 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 Rudyard Township
How much of Rudyard Township is conserved land?
17% 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 Rudyard Township’s trails?
Lake Superior State Forest - Sault Ste. Marie Unit and Rudyard Township Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Rudyard Township?
183,021 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Rudyard Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 5,427 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Rudyard Township have?
Ahead of 58% 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 Rudyard 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 →