Franconia Sculpture Gardens
Park
42 acres5.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Franconia Township
9% of Franconia Township’s land is conserved: 1,832 acres
The biggest trail networks: Franconia Sculpture Gardens (5.1 mi). 61 acres are parks and preserves, 34 per 1,000 residents. 8% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 54% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
9%
1,832 acres · of 30.2 sq mi of land
Trails
8.8 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
61 ac
34 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
8%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.3 mi
0.3 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
12
3 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Franconia Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Franconia Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Franconia Township is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Franconia Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land9% of the land · typical MN town 5% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (9 mi) · MN 0.5 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land34 acres of park per 1,000 residents (61 acres) · MN 24 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home8% of residents within a half mile of a park · MN 95% · U.S. 72%D
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 54%
LessMore
Water is 5% of Franconia Township’s area (2 of 32 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 9%.
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 Franconia Sculpture Gardens, with 5.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Franconia Bluffs Scientific and Natural Area
Managed by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
86 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Lawrence Creek Scientific and Natural Area
Managed by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
72 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it
1,832 conserved acres
9% of Franconia Township’s land. Water is left out: Franconia Township has 30.2 square miles of land and 1.8 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Franconia Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
National Park Service1,706 ac
Other or Unknown Federal Land456 ac
State natural resources89 ac
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service61 ac
Other state land7 ac
Wild and Scenic River · 1,219 acConservation Easement · 1,013 acState Conservation Area · 87 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 526 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway Wild and Scenic River | National Park Service | 1,219 | Open |
| Franconia Bluffs State Scientific and Natural Area State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 87 | Restricted |
Things to do
5 places to go in Franconia Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Franconia Township
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in Franconia Township
Osceola Boat Launch
DirectionsPlus 2 boat launches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Scenic views in Franconia Township
Franconia Landing
DirectionsTrails & water
12 lakes & rivers
Biking & sports
0.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.3 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
1Basketball
1Tennis
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 walking year in Franconia Township
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) | 9.1 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.9 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.4 | 8.7 |
| High (°F) | 23 | 28 | 41 | 56 | 69 | 78 | 82 | 80 | 71 | 57 | 41 | 28 |
| Rain (in) | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 2.8 | 4.1 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.1 | 3.3 | 3.0 | 1.7 | 1.2 |
January is the driest month (0.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 4.4 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Franconia Township →
Next door
Franconia Township and its neighbors
Franconia Township has the second most mapped trails of the 8 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Scandia14 miFranconia Township8.8 miOsceola8.6 miFarmington6.7 miLindstrom3.4 miChisago Lake Township2.9 miOsceola2.8 miShafer0.0 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franconia Township | 9% | 0.3 | 34 | 8% | B− |
| Chisago Lake Township | 1% | 0.1 | 24 | 19% | C |
| Shafer | 10% | under 0.1 | 7 | 99%+ | B− |
| Lindstrom | 4% | 0.9 | 31 | 98% | A− |
| Scandia | 11% | 0.4 | 316 | 26% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Franconia Township
Where can I hike in Franconia Township?
The longest trail networks: Franconia Sculpture Gardens, 5.1 miles; Franconia Bluffs Scientific and Natural Area, 0.2 miles; Lawrence Creek Scientific and Natural Area, 0.2 miles; Osceola Landing, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Franconia Township is conserved land?
9% 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.
Are dogs allowed on Franconia Township’s trails?
Franconia Sculpture Gardens and Franconia Bluffs Scientific and Natural Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Franconia Township?
0.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.3 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Franconia Township?
12,817 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Franconia Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,273 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Franconia Township have?
Ahead of 54% 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 Franconia 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 →