Coal Miners' Park
Managed by Village of St. Charles
37 acres1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
BOutdoors
Outdoors in St. Charles
St. Charles has 45 acres of parks, 23 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Coal Miners' Park (1 mi). 1.1 miles of mapped trail cross St. Charles, 0.5 per square mile of land. 77% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 65% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
33 acres · of 2.1 sq mi of land
Trails
1.1 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
45 ac
23 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
77%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.9 mi
0.9 mi paths
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does St. Charles have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, St. Charles is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of St. Charles’ overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4BPark land23 acres of park per 1,000 residents (45 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home77% 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 65%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B to B+. 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 Coal Miners' Park, with 1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Waterfowl Park
Managed by Village of St. Charles
4 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Lumberjack Park
Managed by Village of St. Charles
4 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Who protects it
33 conserved acres
3% of St. Charles’ land. Who manages St. Charles’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city33 ac
Local Recreation Area · 33 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Charles Area Family Park Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 33 | Open |
Things to do
4 places to go in St. Charles
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in St. Charles
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in St. Charles
DNR Field Office Boat Launch
DirectionsPlus 1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Biking & sports
0.9 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.9 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
5Baseball
2Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in St. Charles: 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 | 2.0 | 3.5 | 3.7 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 3.5 | 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 St. Charles →
Next door
St. Charles and its neighbors
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Charles | 3% | 0.5 | 23 | 77% | B |
| St. Charles Township | 12% | 0.4 | 862 | 45% | A− |
| Brant Township | 6% | 0.1 | 628 | 30% | B |
| Swan Creek Township | 31% | 0.4 | 1,814 | 32% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in St. Charles
Where can I hike in St. Charles?
The longest trail networks: Coal Miners' Park, 1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of St. Charles 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 St. Charles’ trails?
Coal Miners' Park and Waterfowl Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in St. Charles?
0.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.9 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near St. Charles?
16,640 acres of parks and open public land lie inside St. Charles or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 45 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does St. Charles have?
Ahead of 65% 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 St. Charles 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 →