Allegan State Game Area
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
14,490 acres38.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
A+Outdoors
Outdoors in Valley Township
More than half of Valley Township’s land is conserved: 70%
70% of Valley Township’s land is conserved, about 14,643 acres. 14,696 acres are parks and preserves, 7,229 per 1,000 residents. 41 miles of mapped trail cross Valley Township, 1.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 96% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
70%
14,643 acres · of 32.9 sq mi of land
Trails
41 mi
1.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
14,696 ac
7,229 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
61%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
7
2 beaches · 4 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Valley Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Valley Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Valley Township is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Valley Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land70% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%A+Trails1.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (41 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land7,229 acres of park per 1,000 residents (14,696 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home61% 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 96%
LessMore
Water is 8% of Valley Township’s area (3 of 36 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 64%.
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.
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 Allegan State Game Area, with 38.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
14,643 conserved acres
70% of Valley Township’s land. Water is left out: Valley Township has 32.9 square miles of land and 3.1 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Valley Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State fish & wildlife14,610 ac
State natural resources30 ac
County2 ac
U.S. Forest Service1 ac
State Conservation Area · 14,640 acLocal Park · 2 acNational Forest · 1 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allegan State Game Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 14,640 | Open |
| Littlejohn Lake Park Local Park | County | 2 | Open |
| Manistee National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 1 | Open |
Things to do
10 places to go in Valley Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Valley Township
2 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Valley Township
Allegan Dam East Boat Launch
DirectionsEcho Point Boat LaunchIn Allegan State Game Area
DirectionsM-89 Bridge Boat LaunchIn Allegan State Game Area
DirectionsSwan Creek Pond Boat LaunchIn Allegan State Game Area
DirectionsPicnic areas in Valley Township
2 picnic areas without a name on the map.
Campgrounds in Valley Township
TriPonds Family Camp ResortHours: 09:00-21:00 · Fee
DirectionsPlus 1 campground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
7 lakes & rivers
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
1Basketball
1Volleyball
1Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Valley Township: June 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) | 9.4 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 32 | 35 | 45 | 58 | 70 | 79 | 83 | 81 | 75 | 62 | 48 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.6 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 3.6 | 4.0 | 3.8 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 3.3 | 3.9 | 3.0 | 2.6 |
February is the driest month (2.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.0 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Valley Township →
Next door
Valley Township and its neighbors
Valley Township has the most mapped trails of the 5 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Valley Township41 miHeath Township29 miClyde Township16 miAllegan Township4.6 miCheshire Township0.5 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valley Township | 70% | 1.2 | 7,229 | 61% | A+ |
| Allegan Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Heath Township | 47% | 0.8 | 2,715 | 74% | A+ |
| Clyde Township | 55% | 0.5 | 4,960 | 64% | A |
| Cheshire Township | 2% | under 0.1 | 92 | 25% | C |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Valley Township
Where can I hike in Valley Township?
The longest trail networks: Allegan State Game Area, 38.7 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Valley Township is conserved land?
70% 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 Valley Township’s trails?
Allegan State Game Area doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Valley Township?
51,658 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Valley Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 14,697 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Valley Township have?
Ahead of 96% 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 Valley 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 →