Pere Marquette State Forest - Cadillac Unit
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
4,568 acres18.9 mi of trail
North Country Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Charles W. Chapman · CC BY-SA 4.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Wexford Township
Wexford Township has 4,530 acres of parks, 4,406 for every 1,000 residents
20% of Wexford Township’s land is conserved, about 4,603 acres. The biggest trail networks: Pere Marquette State Forest - Cadillac Unit (18.9 mi). 26 miles of mapped trail cross Wexford Township, 0.7 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 82% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
20%
4,603 acres · of 36.5 sq mi of land
Trails
26 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
4,530 ac
4,406 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
20%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Wexford Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Wexford Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Wexford Township is ahead of 82% 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 Wexford Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land20% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (26 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land4,406 acres of park per 1,000 residents (4,530 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home20% 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 82%
LessMore
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
The longest trail network is Pere Marquette State Forest - Cadillac Unit, with 18.9 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Fletcher Creek Nature Preserve
Managed by Mesick Schools
40 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Pere Marquette State Forest - Traverse City Unit
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
2 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
4,603 conserved acres
20% of Wexford Township’s land. Who manages Wexford Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources4,508 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits95 ac
State Conservation Area · 4,508 acOther Easement · 95 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 95 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cadillac State Forest Area State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 4,390 | Open |
| Kollmeyer State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 119 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Wexford Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Campgrounds in Wexford Township
Spruce Hollow
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 3.9 miUnpaved · 24.9 mi
North Country Trail3.3 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
When to get out
The best walking months in Wexford Township: May 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) | 9.2 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°F) | 28 | 30 | 41 | 54 | 67 | 77 | 80 | 78 | 70 | 57 | 43 | 32 |
| Rain (in) | 2.4 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 3.1 | 3.4 | 3.2 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 4.2 | 3.0 | 2.5 |
February is the driest month (1.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 4.2 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Wexford Township →
Next door
Wexford Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Hanover Township78 miSpringville Township56 miWexford Township26 miGrant Township25 miCleon Township15 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wexford Township | 20% | 0.7 | 4,406 | 20% | A− |
| Cleon Township | under 1% | 0.4 | 50 | 25% | C+ |
| Hanover Township | 64% | 2.2 | 8,347 | 81% | A+ |
| Springville Township | 35% | 1.7 | 345 | 22% | A |
| Grant Township | 4% | 0.7 | 3 | 4% | C |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Wexford Township
Where can I hike in Wexford Township?
The longest trail networks: Pere Marquette State Forest - Cadillac Unit, 18.9 miles; Fletcher Creek Nature Preserve, 0.3 miles; Pere Marquette State Forest - Traverse City Unit, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Wexford Township is conserved land?
20% 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 Wexford Township’s trails?
Pere Marquette State Forest - Cadillac Unit and Fletcher Creek Nature Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Wexford Township?
76,940 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Wexford Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 4,530 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Wexford Township have?
Ahead of 82% 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 Wexford 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 →