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John Chambers HouseJohn Chambers House · Photo: Andrew Jameson · CC BY-SA 3.0
AOutdoors
Outdoors in St. Ignace

St. Ignace has 5.2 miles of mapped trails, 2.0 for every square mile of land

95% of residents live within a half mile of a park. The biggest trail networks: Straits State Park (1.8 mi), Little Bear Sports Park (0.6 mi). 7% of St. Ignace’s land is conserved, about 121 acres.

Ahead of 87% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Conserved land
7%
121 acres · of 2.6 sq mi of land
Trails
5.2 mi
2.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
33 ac
13 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
95%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.7 mi
0.8 mi paths
Highest peak
600 ft
St. Anthony's Rock

What kind of outdoors town is St. Ignace?

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

A trail town2.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 93% of U.S. towns.Parks close to home95% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does St. Ignace have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, St. Ignace is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; trail miles rank highest, park acres per resident lowest.

A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of St. Ignace’s overall grade.
Conserved land7% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%B+Trails2.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (5 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4APark land13 acres of park per 1,000 residents (33 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to home95% of residents within a half mile of a park · MI 50% · U.S. 72%A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 87%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− 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 Straits State Park, with 1.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Straits State Park

Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
112 acres1.8 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗

Little Bear Sports Park

Park
18 acres0.6 mi of trail
Little Bear Fitness Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailhead

Straits of Mackinac Underwater Preserve

Nature preserve
9 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

American Legion Veterans Memorial Park

Park
3 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
All 8 parks & preserves
Straits State Park112 acres · 1.8 mi of trail · Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Directions
Little Bear Sports Park18 acres · 0.6 mi of trail
Directions
American Legion Veterans Memorial Park3 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Directions
Chief Wawatam Park1 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · City of Saint Ignace
Directions
Straits of Mackinac Underwater Preserve9 acres
Directions
Saint Ignace Public Boat Launch3 acres
Directions
Dock #3 Park2 acres
Directions
Coast Guard Park2 acres
Directions
Who protects it

121 conserved acres

7% of St. Ignace’s land. Who manages St. Ignace’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

State natural resources113 ac
Town or city8 ac
Unknown · 113 acLocal Park · 8 ac
The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Father Marquette National Memorial
Unknown
State natural resources113Open
Spring Park
Local Park
Town or city5Open
Dock Park
Local Park
Town or city2Open
Huron Boardwalk
Local Park
Town or city1Open
Things to do

19 places to go in St. Ignace

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

Beaches in St. Ignace
Kiwanis Beach
Directions

Plus 4 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.

Trails & water

2 named trails

Named trails
Open to bikes · 0.6 miUnpaved · 4.1 mi
Little Bear Fitness Trail0.5 mi
Boardwalk0.1 mi
Biking & sports

1.7 miles of bike routes

Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.

0.8 mi
off-road bike paths
1.0 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
6Basketball
3Baseball
3Tennis
2Softball
2Beach volleyball
1Football
1Volleyball

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

History along the way

1 place on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 2 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.

History →
John Chambers HouseBuilding · listed 1982
About it
When to get out

The best walking months in St. Ignace: May to 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)9.010.311.813.514.915.715.414.112.510.89.48.7
High (°F)252736486170757468544232
Rain (in)1.81.21.72.62.83.13.13.13.64.22.72.2

February is the driest month (1.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 75 °F). 4.2 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in St. Ignace →

Next door

St. Ignace and its neighbors

Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Moran Township237 miSt. Ignace Township57 miSt. Ignace5.2 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
St. Ignace7%2.01395%A
Moran Township43%1.91,06924%A
St. Ignace Township78%0.6under 1under 1%C+

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

Questions about parks and trails in St. Ignace

Where can I hike in St. Ignace?

The longest trail networks: Straits State Park, 1.8 miles; Little Bear Sports Park, 0.6 miles; American Legion Veterans Memorial Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of St. Ignace is conserved land?

7% 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. Ignace’s trails?

Straits State Park and Little Bear Sports Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Where can I bike in St. Ignace?

1.7 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.8 of off-road paths and 1.0 of shoulders and shared lanes.

Is there public land near St. Ignace?

45,485 acres of parks and open public land lie inside St. Ignace or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 145 of them inside the city line.

How much outdoors does St. Ignace have?

Ahead of 87% 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. Ignace 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 →