Fred Russ Forest Park
Managed by Cass County
15 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Grand Rapids, Grand Haven and Muskegon Railway Depot · Photo: rossograph · CC BY-SA 3.0B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Volinia Township
Volinia Township has 836 acres of parks, 674 for every 1,000 residents
17% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 4.7 miles of mapped trail cross Volinia Township, 0.1 per square mile of land. 4% of Volinia Township’s land is conserved, about 836 acres.
Ahead of 51% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
4%
836 acres · of 34.4 sq mi of land
Trails
4.7 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
836 ac
674 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
17%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
5
What kind of outdoors town is Volinia Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Volinia Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Volinia Township is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Volinia Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land4% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (5 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land674 acres of park per 1,000 residents (836 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home17% 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 51%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C 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 Fred Russ Forest Park, with 0.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
836 conserved acres
4% of Volinia Township’s land. Who manages Volinia Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Other state land734 ac
Town or city80 ac
County14 ac
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service9 ac
Private Recreation or Education · 734 acLocal Conservation Area · 80 acLocal Park · 14 acConservation Easement · 9 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fred Russ Experimental Forest Private Recreation or Education | Other state land | 734 | Open |
| Hathaway Woods Local Conservation Area | Town or city | 80 | Open |
| Russ Forest Park Local Park | County | 14 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Volinia Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Volinia Township
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
5 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
2Basketball
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The best walking months in Volinia 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) | 9.4 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 31 | 35 | 46 | 59 | 70 | 80 | 83 | 81 | 74 | 62 | 48 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 2.6 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 3.8 | 4.0 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 2.8 | 2.4 |
February is the driest month (2.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.2 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Volinia Township →
Next door
Volinia Township and its neighbors
Volinia Township has the most mapped trails of the 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Volinia Township | 4% | 0.1 | 674 | 17% | B− |
| Marcellus Township | 3% | 0.1 | 62 | 54% | B− |
| Penn Township | 1% | 0.1 | 81 | 32% | C |
| Decatur Township | under 1% | under 0.1 | 2 | 44% | D |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Volinia Township
Where can I hike in Volinia Township?
The longest trail networks: Fred Russ Forest Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Volinia Township is conserved land?
4% 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 Volinia Township’s trails?
Fred Russ Forest Park and Stevens Memorial Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Volinia Township?
8,164 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Volinia Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 836 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Volinia Township have?
Ahead of 51% 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 Volinia 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 →