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LakeLindenMichiganDowntown2M26Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0
A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Schoolcraft Township

Schoolcraft Township has 842 acres of parks, 389 for every 1,000 residents

49 miles of mapped trail cross Schoolcraft Township, 1.2 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Lake Linden Village Park (1.2 mi), Schoolcraft Township Park (0.9 mi), Houghton Douglass Falls Scenic Site (0.7 mi). 3% of Schoolcraft Township’s land is conserved, about 856 acres.

Ahead of 82% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Conserved land
3%
856 acres · of 40.1 sq mi of land
Trails
49 mi
1.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
842 ac
389 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
62%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
3
1 beach · 2 boat launches

What kind of outdoors town is Schoolcraft Township?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Room to roam389 acres of park per 1,000 residents; the typical U.S. town has 13.A trail town1.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 85% of U.S. towns.History along the way4 places on the National Register.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Schoolcraft Township have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Schoolcraft Township is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; park acres per resident rank highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.

A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Schoolcraft Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%B−Trails1.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (49 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land389 acres of park per 1,000 residents (842 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13AParks close to home62% 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 82%
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.

1234
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 Lake Linden Village Park, with 1.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Lake Linden Village Park

Park
106 acres1.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Schoolcraft Township Park

Managed by Schoolcraft Township
119 acres0.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

Houghton Douglass Falls Scenic Site

Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
57 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

Grand Traverse Bay Public Access

Managed by Schoolcraft Township
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it

856 conserved acres

3% of Schoolcraft Township’s land. Who manages Schoolcraft Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

County697 ac
Other state land181 ac
Town or city94 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)62 ac
Local Park · 713 acConservation Easement · 243 acLocal Resource Management Area · 76 acLocal Recreation Area · 2 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 65 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
County of Houghton Park
Local Park
County697Open
Local Forest
Local Resource Management Area
Town or city76Open
Lake Linden Park
Local Park
Town or city13Open
Township of Sherman Park
Local Park
Town or city3Open
Unknown Park
Local Recreation Area
Town or city2Open
Things to do

5 places to go in Schoolcraft Township

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Boat launches in Schoolcraft Township
Grand Traverse Bay Harbor Boat Launch
Directions

Plus 1 boat launch without a name on the map.

Trails & water

11 named trails and 3 lakes & rivers

Named trails
Open to bikes · 2.2 miUnpaved · 7.8 mi
ST-35.6 mi
S220.7 mi
S23C0.7 mi
S10D0.5 mi
S23H0.5 mi
S22A0.5 mi
ST-1530.4 mi
S562A0.4 mi
Henwood North0.4 mi
S24A0.3 mi
1 more trails
S10AA
0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Deer LakeTrap Rock RiverTraverse River
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.

Lake Linden TrailBike route
5.5 mi
Jack Stevens TrailBike route
0.4 mi
Courts & fields
3Baseball
1Football
1Basketball

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

4 places on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).

History →
Big Traverse Bay Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1975
About it
Lake Linden Village Hall and Fire StationBuilding · listed 1981
About it
Joseph Bosch BuildingBuilding · listed 1982
About it
Lake Linden Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2009
About it
When to get out

The best walking months in Schoolcraft Township: May, June 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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)8.910.211.813.515.115.915.614.212.510.89.38.5
High (°F)242736476069757467534130
Rain (in)2.01.31.42.32.92.93.02.93.33.22.21.7

February is the driest month (1.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 75 °F). 3.3 inches fall in September, the wettest month. The climate in Schoolcraft Township →

Next door

Schoolcraft Township and its neighbors

Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Sherman Township157 miTorch Lake Township73 miCalumet Township70 miSchoolcraft Township49 miHubbell3.7 miLake Linden2.8 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Schoolcraft Township3%1.238962%A−
Calumet Township3%2.110690%A
Torch Lake Township3%0.91,37358%A−
Sherman Township— not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Hubbell— not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Lake Linden10%3.613897%A+

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in Schoolcraft Township

Where can I hike in Schoolcraft Township?

The longest trail networks: Lake Linden Village Park, 1.2 miles; Schoolcraft Township Park, 0.9 miles; Houghton Douglass Falls Scenic Site, 0.7 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Schoolcraft Township is conserved land?

3% 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 Schoolcraft Township’s trails?

Lake Linden Village Park and Schoolcraft Township Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Is there public land near Schoolcraft Township?

12,302 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Schoolcraft Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 842 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does Schoolcraft Township have?

Ahead of 82% 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 Schoolcraft Township neighbors.

Town Square →
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 →