Happy Valley Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
205 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
DOutdoors
Outdoors in Holding Township
Few parks or trails are on the map in Holding Township
1% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 1 acre is park or preserve, 0.5 per 1,000 residents. 1.6 miles of mapped trail cross Holding Township.
Ahead of 9% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
398 acres · of 40.8 sq mi of land
Trails
1.6 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
1 ac
0.5 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
1%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
6.2 mi
6.2 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Holding Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Holding Township is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; conserved land comes closest.
D
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Holding Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical MN town 5% · U.S. 4%C+Trails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · MN 0.5 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land0.5 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1 acre) · MN 24 · U.S. 13DParks close to home1% 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 Holding 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.
Doesn't Matter Park
Park
1 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
398 conserved acres
2% of Holding Township’s land. Who manages Holding Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State fish & wildlife205 ac
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service138 ac
Other state land54 ac
State Conservation Area · 205 acConservation Easement · 192 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 192 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Happy Valley State Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 205 | Restricted |
Trails & water
2 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
6.2 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
6.2 mi
off-road bike paths
When to get out
September is the best month for walking in Holding 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) | 20 | 26 | 39 | 54 | 67 | 77 | 81 | 79 | 70 | 56 | 39 | 26 |
| Rain (in) | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 3.6 | 4.4 | 4.2 | 3.7 | 2.9 | 2.7 | 1.3 | 0.9 |
January is the driest month (0.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 4.4 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Holding Township →
Next door
Holding Township 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holding Township | 2% | under 0.1 | 1 | 1% | D |
| Brockway Township | 1% | 0.2 | 70 | 2% | C |
| Avon Township | 1% | 0.1 | under 1 | 6% | D |
| Krain Township | 1% | under 0.1 | 56 | 5% | C− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Holding Township
Where can I hike in Holding Township?
The longest trail networks: Doesn't Matter Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Holding Township is conserved land?
2% 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 Holding Township’s trails?
Happy Valley Wildlife Management Area and Doesn't Matter Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Holding Township?
6.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 6.2 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Holding Township?
1,528 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Holding Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), almost none of it inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Holding 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 Holding 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 →