Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge
Managed by United States Fish and Wildlife Service
7,055 acres9.7 mi of trail
Ferguson Bayou Trail (east)Ferguson Bayou Trail (north)Ferguson Bayou Trail (west)
No dogs
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Spaulding Township
46% of Spaulding Township’s land is conserved: 7,578 acres
101 acres are parks and preserves, 51 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge (9.7 mi). 15 miles of mapped trail cross Spaulding Township, 0.6 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 84% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
46%
7,578 acres · of 25.6 sq mi of land
Trails
15 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
101 ac
51 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
53%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Spaulding Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Spaulding Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Spaulding Township is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Spaulding Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land46% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%A+Trails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (15 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land51 acres of park per 1,000 residents (101 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home53% 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 84%
LessMore
Water is 7% of Spaulding Township’s area (2 of 27 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 44%.
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.
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 Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge, with 9.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Shiawassee River State Game Area
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
60 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
7,578 conserved acres
46% of Spaulding Township’s land. Water is left out: Spaulding Township has 25.6 square miles of land and 1.8 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Spaulding Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service14,190 ac
Other state land367 ac
State fish & wildlife77 ac
Town or city35 ac
National Wildlife Refuge · 14,190 acAgricultural Easement · 227 acConservation Easement · 139 acState Conservation Area · 77 acLocal Park · 35 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 367 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuge | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 14,190 | Restricted |
| Shiawassee River State Game Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 77 | Open |
| Township of Spaulding Park Local Park | Town or city | 35 | Open |
Things to do
4 places to go in Spaulding Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in Spaulding Township
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Scenic views in Spaulding Township
3 scenic views without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
3 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 3.0 miUnpaved · 5.3 mi
Ferguson Bayou Trail (east)1.7 mi
Ferguson Bayou Trail (north)1.3 mi
Ferguson Bayou Trail (west)0.7 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
2Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Mower Road-Cole Drain BridgeStructure · listed 1999
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Spaulding Township: July and 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 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 30 | 33 | 44 | 57 | 70 | 79 | 83 | 81 | 74 | 61 | 47 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 2.0 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 3.4 | 3.7 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 3.6 | 2.7 | 3.1 | 2.4 | 1.9 |
February is the driest month (1.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 3.7 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Spaulding Township →
Next door
Spaulding Township and its neighbors
Spaulding Township has the second most mapped trails of the 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spaulding Township | 46% | 0.6 | 51 | 53% | A− |
| Saginaw | 7% | 0.5 | 28 | 76% | A− |
| James Township | 52% | 1.4 | 1,912 | 14% | A |
| Albee Township | 1% | 0.3 | 44 | 6% | C+ |
| Bridgeport Township | 6% | 0.2 | 49 | 29% | B− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Spaulding Township
Where can I hike in Spaulding Township?
The longest trail networks: Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge, 9.7 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Spaulding Township is conserved land?
46% 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 Spaulding Township’s trails?
Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge and Shiawassee River State Game Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Spaulding Township?
18,330 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Spaulding Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 101 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Spaulding Township have?
Ahead of 84% 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 Spaulding 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 →