Au Sable State Forest - Gladwin Unit
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
4,648 acres9.8 mi of trail
Midland to Mackinaw Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
BOutdoors
Outdoors in Secord Township
Secord Township has 238 acres of parks, 242 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Au Sable State Forest - Gladwin Unit (9.8 mi). 16 miles of mapped trail cross Secord Township, 0.7 per square mile of land. 14% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 57% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
261 acres · of 22.0 sq mi of land
Trails
16 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
238 ac
242 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
14%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
2
What kind of outdoors town is Secord Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Secord Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Secord Township is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns. 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 Secord Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%C+Trails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (16 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land242 acres of park per 1,000 residents (238 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13AParks close to home14% 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 57%
LessMore
Water is 6% of Secord Township’s area (1 of 24 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 2%.
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
The longest trail network is Au Sable State Forest - Gladwin Unit, with 9.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
261 conserved acres
2% of Secord Township’s land. Water is left out: Secord Township has 22.0 square miles of land and 1.5 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Secord Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Private owners235 ac
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service26 ac
Private Park · 235 acConservation Easement · 26 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 26 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tee Creek Hunt Club Private Park | Private owners | 235 | Open |
Trails & water
1 named trail and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Midland to Mackinaw Trail2.5 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.
Courts & fields
2Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Secord Township: July 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) | 9.2 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 29 | 32 | 42 | 55 | 68 | 78 | 82 | 80 | 73 | 59 | 45 | 34 |
| Rain (in) | 1.9 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 2.7 | 3.1 | 2.4 | 2.0 |
February is the driest month (1.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 3.5 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Secord Township →
Next door
Secord Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Grim Township141 miClement Township17 miSecord Township16 miHay Township5.3 miGladwin Township3.3 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Secord Township | 2% | 0.7 | 242 | 14% | B |
| Clement Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Grim Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Hay Township | 2% | 0.2 | 51 | 12% | C+ |
| Gladwin Township | under 1% | 0.1 | under 1 | 4% | D |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Secord Township
Where can I hike in Secord Township?
The longest trail networks: Au Sable State Forest - Gladwin Unit, 9.8 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Secord Township is conserved land?
2% 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 Secord Township’s trails?
Au Sable State Forest - Gladwin Unit doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Secord Township?
15,973 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Secord Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 238 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Secord Township have?
Ahead of 57% 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 Secord 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 →