Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Slambo · CC BY-SA 4.014% of Florence Township’s land is conserved, about 3,174 acres. The biggest trail networks: Frontenac State Park (21.1 mi). 27 miles of mapped trail cross Florence Township, 0.8 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 87% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Florence Township is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
Water is 14% of Florence Township’s area (6 of 41 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 12%.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
The longest trail network is Frontenac State Park, with 21.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
14% of Florence Township’s land. Water is left out: Florence Township has 34.8 square miles of land and 5.8 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Florence Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 102 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frontenac State Park State Park | State parks | 2,331 | Open |
| R J D Memorial Hardwood State Forest State Resource Management Area | State natural resources | 496 | Open |
| Perched Valley State Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 271 | Restricted |
| Hok-Si-La Park And Campground Local Park | Town or city | 31 | Open |
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Plus 1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
1 playground without a name on the map.
1 boat launch without a name on the map.
Plus 11 scenic views without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Plus 1 campground without a name on the map.
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
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) | 24 | 29 | 42 | 57 | 69 | 79 | 83 | 80 | 73 | 59 | 43 | 29 |
| Rain (in) | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.9 | 3.1 | 4.3 | 5.3 | 4.2 | 4.6 | 3.7 | 2.6 | 1.7 | 1.3 |
January is the driest month (1.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 5.3 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Florence Township →
Florence Township has the most mapped trails of the 6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florence Township | 14% | 0.8 | 1,553 | 48% | A |
| Lake City | 13% | 0.6 | 58 | 94% | A |
| Hay Creek Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Lake Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Wacouta Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
The longest trail networks: Frontenac State Park, 21.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
14% of its land, against a typical 5% for a Minnesota town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Frontenac State Park and Richard J. Dorer Memorial Hardwood State Forest don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
8.4 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.9 of off-road paths and 7.5 of shoulders and shared lanes.
14,526 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Florence Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 2,852 of them inside the town line.
Ahead of 87% 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.
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Florence Township neighbors.
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 →