Rice Creek Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
611 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
DOutdoors
Outdoors in Grass Lake Township
Few parks or trails are on the map in Grass Lake Township
0.8 miles of mapped trail cross Grass Lake Township. 4% of Grass Lake Township’s land is conserved, about 772 acres.
Ahead of 9% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
4%
772 acres · of 34.0 sq mi of land
Trails
0.8 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Near a park
under 1%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
4.7 mi
Lakes & rivers
4
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Grass Lake Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Grass Lake Township is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
D
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Grass Lake Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land4% of the land · typical MN town 5% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · MN 0.5 · U.S. 0.4C−Park 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 9%
LessMore
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Grass Lake 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Joseph O'Brien Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
66 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Wire Tree Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
38 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it
772 conserved acres
4% of Grass Lake Township’s land. Who manages Grass Lake Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State fish & wildlife716 ac
State natural resources40 ac
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service16 ac
State Conservation Area · 716 acState Resource Management Area · 40 acConservation Easement · 16 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rice Creek State Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 612 | Restricted |
| Joseph O'Brien State Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 66 | Restricted |
| Miscellaneous State Resource Management Area | State natural resources | 40 | Open |
| Wire Tree State Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 38 | Restricted |
Trails & water
4 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
4.7 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
4.7 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
When to get out
The walking year in Grass Lake 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) | 9.0 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 14.9 | 15.7 | 15.4 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.4 | 8.7 |
| High (°F) | 21 | 27 | 40 | 54 | 68 | 77 | 81 | 79 | 71 | 57 | 40 | 27 |
| Rain (in) | 0.8 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 2.7 | 4.0 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.1 | 3.4 | 2.9 | 1.6 | 1.1 |
January is the driest month (0.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 4.4 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Grass Lake Township →
Next door
Grass Lake Township and its neighbors
Grass Lake Township has the most mapped trails of the 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grass Lake Township | 4% | under 0.1 | under 1 | under 1% | D |
| Stanchfield Township | under 1% | under 0.1 | under 1 | 5% | D |
| Royalton Township | 1% | under 0.1 | under 1 | under 1% | D |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Grass Lake Township
How much of Grass Lake 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 Grass Lake Township’s trails?
Rice Creek Wildlife Management Area and Joseph O'Brien Wildlife Management Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Grass Lake Township?
4.7 miles of bike routes are on the map: 4.7 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Grass Lake Township?
1,252 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Grass Lake Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 40 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Grass Lake Township have?
Ahead of 9% 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 Grass Lake 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 →