Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area - Gifford Lake Unit
Park
15 acres0.5 mi of trail
Minnesota Valley State Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Strunk-Nyssen House · Photo: Elkman · CC BY-SA 3.0B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Jackson Township
Jackson Township has 563 acres of parks, 370 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area - Gifford Lake Unit (0.5 mi). 41% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 1.6 miles of mapped trail cross Jackson Township, 0.3 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 48% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
8 acres · of 4.8 sq mi of land
Trails
1.6 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
563 ac
370 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
41%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
6.2 mi
1.6 mi lanes · 4.7 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
What kind of outdoors town is Jackson Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Jackson Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Jackson Township is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Jackson Township’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical MN town 5% · U.S. 4%C−Trails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · MN 0.5 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land370 acres of park per 1,000 residents (563 acres) · MN 24 · U.S. 13AParks close to home41% 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 48%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. 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 Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area - Gifford Lake Unit, with 0.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area - Nyssen's Lake Unit
Park
472 acres0.1 mi of trail
Minnesota Valley State Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Jackson Park
Park
77 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
8 conserved acres
under 1% of Jackson Township’s land. Who manages Jackson Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State fish & wildlife8 ac
State Conservation Area · 8 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| O'Dowd Lake State Aquatic Management Area (Scott) State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 8 | Restricted |
Things to do
1 places to go in Jackson Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Jackson Township
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
1 named trail and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 1.0 mi
Minnesota Valley State Trail0.5 mi
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.
1.6 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
4.7 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
9Lacrosse
2Tennis
1Basketball
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Strunk-Nyssen HouseBuilding · listed 1980
About itWhen to get out
The walking year in Jackson 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) | 9.2 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°F) | 23 | 28 | 41 | 57 | 69 | 79 | 83 | 80 | 73 | 58 | 41 | 28 |
| Rain (in) | 0.8 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 3.0 | 4.3 | 4.9 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 3.3 | 2.6 | 1.6 | 1.1 |
January is the driest month (0.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.9 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Jackson Township →
Next door
Jackson 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson Township | under 1% | 0.3 | 370 | 41% | B− |
| Shakopee | 11% | 0.7 | 30 | 98% | A |
| Chaska | 4% | 1.1 | 31 | 94% | A |
| Louisville Township | 15% | 1.5 | 855 | 2% | A− |
| Chanhassen | 11% | 1.5 | 71 | 99%+ | A+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Jackson Township
Where can I hike in Jackson Township?
The longest trail networks: Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area - Gifford Lake Unit, 0.5 miles; Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area - Nyssen's Lake Unit, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Jackson 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 Jackson Township’s trails?
Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area - Gifford Lake Unit and Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area - Nyssen's Lake Unit don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Jackson Township?
6.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.6 of painted or protected lanes and 4.7 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Jackson Township?
24,692 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Jackson Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 563 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Jackson Township have?
Ahead of 48% 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 Jackson 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 →