Woodland Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
18 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
District No. 48 School · Photo: Elkman · CC BY-SA 4.0DOutdoors
Outdoors in Franklin Township
Few parks or trails are on the map in Franklin Township
13% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 16 acres are parks and preserves, 5.4 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 9% of U.S. towns · #271 of 274 in Minnesota. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
118 acres · of 40.2 sq mi of land
Trails
0.0 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
16 ac
5.4 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
13%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
4.1 mi
4.1 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
5
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Franklin Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Franklin Township is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns, #271 of 274 in Minnesota. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; park acres per resident come closest.
D
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Franklin Township’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical MN town 5% · U.S. 4%C−Trails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · MN 0.5 · U.S. 0.4DPark land5.4 acres of park per 1,000 residents (16 acres) · MN 24 · U.S. 13CParks close to home13% of residents within a half mile of a park · MN 95% · U.S. 72%C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 9%
LessMore
Minnesota towns of 2,500+ (274)#271 of 274
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Franklin Township. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would still be D. 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.
Crow Springs County Park
Managed by Wright County, MN
15 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
118 conserved acres
under 1% of Franklin Township’s land. Who manages Franklin Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Other state land100 ac
State fish & wildlife18 ac
Conservation Easement · 100 acState Conservation Area · 18 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 100 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Woodland State Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 18 | Restricted |
Trails & water
5 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
4.1 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
4.1 mi
off-road bike paths
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
District No. 48 SchoolBuilding · listed 1979
About itWhen to get out
The walking year in Franklin 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 | 14.8 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°F) | 22 | 27 | 40 | 55 | 68 | 78 | 82 | 79 | 72 | 57 | 40 | 27 |
| Rain (in) | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 2.8 | 4.0 | 4.8 | 3.9 | 4.1 | 3.4 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 1.1 |
January is the driest month (0.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 4.8 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Franklin Township →
Next door
Franklin Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Greenfield9.4 miIndependence9.1 miDelano1.5 miRockford1.1 miRockford Township0.2 miFranklin Township0.0 miWoodland Township0.0 miMarysville Township0.0 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin Township | under 1% | under 0.1 | 5 | 13% | D |
| Rockford Township | 1% | under 0.1 | 1 | 12% | D |
| Delano | 2% | 0.3 | 16 | 99%+ | B+ |
| Greenfield | 1% | 0.5 | 77 | 21% | B− |
| Woodland Township | 4% | under 0.1 | 41 | 16% | C |
| Rockford | 2% | 0.4 | 10 | 99% | B |
| Independence | 2% | 0.3 | 66 | 15% | B− |
| Marysville Township | 2% | under 0.1 | 40 | 15% | C |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Franklin Township
How much of Franklin Township is conserved land?
under 1% 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 Franklin Township’s trails?
Woodland Wildlife Management Area and Crow Springs County Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Franklin Township?
4.1 miles of bike routes are on the map: 4.1 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Franklin Township?
12,698 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Franklin Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 16 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Franklin Township have?
Ahead of 9% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #271 of 274 in Minnesota. 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 Franklin 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 →