Thumb Area Underwater Preserve
Nature preserve
7,451 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Harbor Beach Lighthouse · Photo: Aaron Linville · CC BY-SA 4.0COutdoors
Outdoors in Sand Beach Township
Sand Beach Township has 85 acres of parks, 74 for every 1,000 residents
12% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 4.7 miles of mapped trail cross Sand Beach Township, 0.1 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 31% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
80 acres · of 36.4 sq mi of land
Trails
4.7 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
85 ac
74 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
12%
of residents within ½ mile
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Sand Beach Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Sand Beach Township is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Sand Beach Township’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%C−Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (5 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4CPark land74 acres of park per 1,000 residents (85 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home12% 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 31%
LessMore
Water is 24% of Sand Beach Township’s area (12 of 48 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read under 1%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. 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 Thumb Area Underwater Preserve, with 0.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
North Park
Managed by City of Harbor Beach
3 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
80 conserved acres
under 1% of Sand Beach Township’s land. Water is left out: Sand Beach Township has 36.4 square miles of land and 11.8 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Sand Beach Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County80 ac
Local Resource Management Area · 80 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local Forest Local Resource Management Area | County | 80 | Open |
History along the way
History →2 places on the National Register
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 Sand Beach Township: May to 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) | 9.3 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 29 | 31 | 40 | 51 | 63 | 73 | 78 | 77 | 71 | 58 | 45 | 34 |
| Rain (in) | 2.2 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 3.2 | 3.3 | 3.2 | 3.1 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 3.0 | 2.5 | 2.2 |
February is the driest month (1.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 78 °F). 3.4 inches fall in August, the wettest month. The climate in Sand Beach Township →
Next door
Sand Beach Township and its neighbors
Sand Beach Township has the second most mapped trails of the 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sand Beach Township | under 1% | 0.1 | 74 | 12% | C |
| Rubicon Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Sherman Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Sigel 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 Sand Beach Township
Where can I hike in Sand Beach Township?
The longest trail networks: Thumb Area Underwater Preserve, 0.1 miles; North Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Sand Beach Township is conserved land?
under 1% 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 Sand Beach Township’s trails?
Thumb Area Underwater Preserve and North Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Sand Beach Township?
8,337 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Sand Beach Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 85 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Sand Beach Township have?
Ahead of 31% 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 Sand Beach 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 →