Paw Paw River Preserve
Managed by Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy
233 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Compiled from official records and local inspection by W.H. Goss, County Surveyor. Drawn by M.K. Orton. · Public domainC+Outdoors
Outdoors in Waverly Township
Waverly Township has 290 acres of parks, 116 for every 1,000 residents
0.2 miles of mapped trail cross Waverly Township. 30% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 2% of Waverly Township’s land is conserved, about 386 acres.
Ahead of 36% of U.S. towns · #551 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
386 acres · of 34.1 sq mi of land
Trails
0.2 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
290 ac
116 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
30%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
12
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Waverly Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Waverly Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Waverly Township is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns, #551 of 701 in Michigan. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Waverly Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%C+Trails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4DPark land116 acres of park per 1,000 residents (290 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13AParks close to home30% 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 36%
LessMore
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 21%
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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Dayton-Willard Preserve
Managed by Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy
31 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
School Section Lake Public Access
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
386 conserved acres
2% of Waverly Township’s land. Who manages Waverly Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits288 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)59 ac
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service39 ac
Local Conservation Area · 248 acConservation Easement · 98 acPrivate Conservation · 40 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 98 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paw Paw River Preserve Local Conservation Area | Land trusts & nonprofits | 248 | Open |
| Willard Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 40 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Waverly Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in Waverly Township
School Section Lake Boat LaunchIn School Section Lake Public Access
DirectionsTrails & water
12 lakes & rivers
When to get out
The best walking months in Waverly Township: April and July 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 | 46 | 59 | 71 | 80 | 84 | 81 | 75 | 62 | 48 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.6 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 3.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 2.9 | 2.5 |
February is the driest month (2.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.0 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Waverly Township →
Next door
Waverly Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Almena Township7.1 miPaw Paw Township4.8 miArlington Township4.0 miBloomingdale Township1.5 miWaverly Township0.2 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waverly Township | 2% | under 0.1 | 116 | 30% | C+ |
| Paw Paw Township | 2% | 0.1 | 7 | 59% | C |
| Arlington Township | 1% | 0.1 | 57 | 15% | C |
| Almena Township | 2% | 0.2 | 84 | 25% | B− |
| Bloomingdale Township | 3% | under 0.1 | 187 | 31% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Waverly Township
How much of Waverly Township is conserved land?
2% 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 Waverly Township’s trails?
Paw Paw River Preserve and Dayton-Willard Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Waverly Township?
3,998 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Waverly Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 290 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Waverly Township have?
Ahead of 36% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #551 of 701 in Michigan. 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 Waverly 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 →