Manistee National Forest - Baldwin Ranger District
Managed by United States Forest Service
45 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
DOutdoors
Outdoors in Sherman Township
Few parks or trails are on the map in Sherman Township
1% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 1.5 miles of mapped trail cross Sherman Township. 2% of Sherman Township’s land is conserved, about 376 acres.
Ahead of 10% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
376 acres · of 36.2 sq mi of land
Trails
1.5 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
1 ac
1.0 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
1%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.7 mi
Lakes & rivers
4
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Sherman Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Sherman Township is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; conserved land comes closest.
D
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Sherman Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%C+Trails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land1.0 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1 acre) · MI 33 · U.S. 13DParks close to home1% of residents within a half mile of a park · MI 50% · U.S. 72%D
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 10%
LessMore
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Sherman Township. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on them.
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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
376 conserved acres
2% of Sherman Township’s land. Who manages Sherman Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
USDA easements (NRCS)330 ac
U.S. Forest Service45 ac
Town or city1 ac
Conservation Easement · 330 acNational Forest · 45 acLocal Park · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 330 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manistee National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 45 | Open |
| Freesoil Township Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Trails & water
4 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.7 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.7 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
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 Sherman 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) | 9.2 | 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 | 77 | 81 | 79 | 72 | 58 | 45 | 34 |
| Rain (in) | 2.3 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 3.1 | 3.1 | 4.1 | 3.2 | 2.4 |
February is the driest month (1.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 4.1 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Sherman Township →
Next door
Sherman Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Free Soil Township38 miSheridan Township13 miCuster Township6.0 miVictory Township4.9 miSherman Township1.5 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sherman Township | 2% | under 0.1 | 1 | 1% | D |
| Sheridan Township | 16% | 0.4 | under 1 | under 1% | C |
| Custer Township | 6% | 0.2 | 41 | 26% | B− |
| Victory Township | 1% | 0.1 | 65 | 2% | C |
| Free Soil 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 Sherman Township
How much of Sherman 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 Sherman Township’s trails?
Manistee National Forest - Baldwin Ranger District doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Sherman Township?
0.7 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.7 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Sherman Township?
81,729 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Sherman Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 47 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Sherman Township have?
Ahead of 10% 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 Sherman 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 →