Westgate Park
Park
6 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Moncrief at en.wikipedia · Public domainAOutdoors
Outdoors in Hawley
6% of Hawley’s land is conserved, and virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 2.6 miles of mapped trail cross Hawley, 1.0 per square mile of land. 53 acres are parks and preserves, 24 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 91% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
6%
108 acres · of 2.6 sq mi of land
Trails
2.6 mi
1.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
53 ac
24 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.4 mi
0.4 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Hawley?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Hawley have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Hawley is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park ranks highest, conserved land lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Hawley’s overall grade.
Conserved land6% of the land · typical MN town 5% · U.S. 4%B+Trails1.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (3 mi) · MN 0.5 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land24 acres of park per 1,000 residents (53 acres) · MN 24 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · MN 95% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 91%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. 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 Westgate Park, with 0.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Hawley WPA
Managed by United States Fish and Wildlife Service
112 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Hawley Softball Complex
Managed by City of Hawley
23 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Riverbend Park
Managed by City of Hawley
19 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it
108 conserved acres
6% of Hawley’s land. Who manages Hawley’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service216 ac
Resource Management Area · 216 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clay County Waterfowl Production Area Of Minnesota Resource Management Area | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 108 | Restricted |
| Clay County Waterfowl Production Area Of Mn Resource Management Area | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 108 | Restricted |
Things to do
8 places to go in Hawley
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Hawley
8 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.4 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.4 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
6Baseball
4Basketball
2Football
2Tennis
1Equestrian
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The walking year in Hawley
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) | 17 | 23 | 36 | 53 | 67 | 77 | 81 | 79 | 70 | 54 | 37 | 23 |
| Rain (in) | 0.7 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 1.6 | 3.2 | 4.5 | 4.0 | 3.0 | 2.8 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 0.8 |
February is the driest month (0.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 4.5 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Hawley →
Next door
Hawley and its neighbors
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawley | 6% | 1.0 | 24 | 99%+ | A |
| Hawley Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Eglon 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 Hawley
Where can I hike in Hawley?
The longest trail networks: Westgate Park, 0.4 miles; Riverbend Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Hawley is conserved land?
6% 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 Hawley’s trails?
Westgate Park and Hawley WPA don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Hawley?
0.4 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.4 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Hawley?
1,426 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Hawley or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 53 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Hawley have?
Ahead of 91% 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 Hawley 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 →