Cloquet Valley State Forest
Managed by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
1,600 acres2 mi of trail
Carrol Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
C−Outdoors
Outdoors in Gnesen Township
Gnesen Township has 27 miles of mapped trails, 0.4 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: Cloquet Valley State Forest (2 mi). 4% of Gnesen Township’s land is conserved, about 1,754 acres.
Ahead of 21% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
4%
1,754 acres · of 63.1 sq mi of land
Trails
27 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Near a park
under 1%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
12
1 boat launch
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Gnesen Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Gnesen Township is ahead of 21% of U.S. towns. Trail miles hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Gnesen Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land4% of the land · typical MN town 5% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (27 mi) · MN 0.5 · U.S. 0.4BPark land0.0 acres of park per 1,000 residents (0 acres) · MN 24 · U.S. 13DParks close to home0% 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 21%
LessMore
Water is 12% of Gnesen Township’s area (9 of 72 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 4%.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Gnesen 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 range from D to C+. 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 Cloquet Valley State Forest, with 2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Gichigami Ziibi WMA
Managed by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
373 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
1,754 conserved acres
4% of Gnesen Township’s land. Water is left out: Gnesen Township has 63.1 square miles of land and 8.8 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Gnesen Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources1,682 ac
State fish & wildlife72 ac
State Resource Management Area · 1,682 acState Conservation Area · 72 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloquet Valley State Forest State Resource Management Area | State natural resources | 1,604 | Open |
| Miscellaneous State Resource Management Area | State natural resources | 77 | Open |
| Lester River State Aquatic Management Area (St. Louis) State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 57 | Restricted |
| Beaver River State Aquatic Management Area (St. Louis) State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 14 | Restricted |
| Carey Creek State Aquatic Management Area (St. Louis) State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 1 | Restricted |
| Mirror Lake State Aquatic Management Area (St. Louis) State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 1 | Restricted |
Things to do
3 places to go in Gnesen Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Gnesen Township
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in Gnesen Township
1 boat launch without a name on the map.
Campgrounds in Gnesen Township
Buzz Ryan CampsitesFee · Boulder Lake Environmental Learning Center, UMD
DirectionsTrails & water
3 named trails and 12 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 8.2 mi
Reservoir Rider Trails12.3 mi
Carrol Trail3.8 mi
Vermilion Trail1.0 mi
Biking & sports
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Courts & fields
4Tennis
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The walking year in Gnesen 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) | 8.9 | 10.2 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 15.0 | 15.9 | 15.5 | 14.2 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.3 | 8.5 |
| High (°F) | 18 | 24 | 37 | 50 | 63 | 72 | 78 | 75 | 66 | 52 | 36 | 23 |
| Rain (in) | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1.4 | 2.3 | 3.2 | 4.4 | 4.1 | 3.5 | 3.4 | 3.0 | 1.7 | 1.3 |
February is the driest month (0.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 78 °F). 4.4 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Gnesen Township →
Next door
Gnesen Township and its neighbors
Gnesen Township has the second most mapped trails of the 5 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Normanna Township33 miGnesen Township27 miFredenberg Township18 miRice Lake13 miNorth Star Township7.8 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gnesen Township | 4% | 0.4 | under 1 | under 1% | C− |
| Rice Lake | 5% | 0.4 | 5 | 6% | C |
| North Star Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Fredenberg Township | 1% | 0.7 | 3 | under 1% | C− |
| Normanna 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.
Questions about parks and trails in Gnesen Township
Where can I hike in Gnesen Township?
The longest trail networks: Cloquet Valley State Forest, 2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Gnesen Township is conserved land?
4% 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 Gnesen Township’s trails?
Cloquet Valley State Forest and Gichigami Ziibi WMA don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Gnesen Township?
27,096 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Gnesen Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,692 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Gnesen Township have?
Ahead of 21% 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 Gnesen 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 →