Tawas Sports Complex
Managed by Tawas City
17 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: TenPoundHammer · CC BY-SA 4.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Tawas City
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Tawas City
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 42 acres are parks and preserves, 26 per 1,000 residents. 0.4 miles of mapped trail cross Tawas City, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 73% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
33 acres · of 1.7 sq mi of land
Trails
0.4 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
42 ac
26 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.6 mi
2.6 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
1 beach · 1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Tawas City?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Tawas City have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Tawas City is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Tawas City’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land26 acres of park per 1,000 residents (42 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · MI 50% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 73%
LessMore
Water is 20% of Tawas City’s area (0 of 2 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 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
North Street Ball Field
Managed by Tawas City
6 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 6 parks & preserves
Veterans Park2 acres · 0.2 mi of trail · Tawas City
DirectionsTawas City Park Beach8 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsTawas City Park1 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsTawas Sports Complex17 acres · Tawas City
DirectionsNorth Street Ball Field6 acres · Tawas City
DirectionsGateway Park6 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
33 conserved acres
3% of Tawas City’s land. Water is left out: Tawas City has 1.7 square miles of land and 0.4 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Tawas City’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city33 ac
Local Recreation Area · 17 acLocal Park · 16 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tawas Sports Complex Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 11 | Open |
| Shoreline Park and Town Square Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| Independent Park Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Gateway Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Union Square Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| Sawyer Thornton Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
4 places to go in Tawas City
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Tawas City
1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Playgrounds in Tawas City
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Tawas City
1 boat launch without a name on the map.
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
2.6 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.6 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
4Baseball
3Basketball
2Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Tawas City: May, June, August 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) | 9.2 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 29 | 32 | 40 | 52 | 64 | 75 | 79 | 78 | 71 | 58 | 45 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 1.8 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 3.3 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 3.4 | 3.2 | 2.8 | 2.9 | 2.4 | 2.0 |
February is the driest month (1.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 79 °F). 3.4 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Tawas City →
Next door
Tawas City 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tawas City | 3% | 0.2 | 26 | 99%+ | B+ |
| Tawas Township | 13% | 0.3 | 55 | 14% | B |
| Baldwin Township | 15% | 0.8 | 122 | 20% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Tawas City
Where can I hike in Tawas City?
The longest trail networks: Tawas City Park Beach, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Tawas City 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 Tawas City’s trails?
Tawas Sports Complex and Tawas City Park Beach don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Tawas City?
2.6 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.6 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Tawas City?
37,377 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Tawas City or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 42 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Tawas City have?
Ahead of 73% 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 Tawas City 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 →