Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge
Managed by United States Fish and Wildlife Service
119 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
C+Outdoors
Outdoors in La Crescent Township
16% of La Crescent Township’s land is conserved: 2,053 acres
3 acres are parks and preserves, 2.8 per 1,000 residents. 1.1 miles of mapped trail cross La Crescent Township, 0.1 per square mile of land. 51% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 37% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
16%
2,053 acres · of 20.2 sq mi of land
Trails
1.1 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
3 ac
2.8 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
51%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.9 mi
0.9 mi lanes
Lakes & rivers
4
What kind of outdoors town is La Crescent Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does La Crescent Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, La Crescent Township is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of La Crescent Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land16% of the land · typical MN town 5% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · MN 0.5 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land2.8 acres of park per 1,000 residents (3 acres) · MN 24 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home51% 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 37%
LessMore
Water is 10% of La Crescent Township’s area (2 of 22 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 14%.
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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
2,053 conserved acres
16% of La Crescent Township’s land. Water is left out: La Crescent Township has 20.2 square miles of land and 2.2 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages La Crescent Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service3,838 ac
Other state land126 ac
State fish & wildlife6 ac
National Wildlife Refuge · 3,838 acConservation Easement · 126 acState Conservation Area · 6 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 126 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife And Fish Refuge National Wildlife Refuge | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 3,838 | Restricted |
| Pine Creek II State Aquatic Management Area (Houston/Winona) State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 6 | Restricted |
Trails & water
2 named trails and 4 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Pine Creek0.1 mi
Horsetrack Meadows0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.9 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.9 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
When to get out
The walking year in La Crescent 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) | 9.3 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 25 | 30 | 43 | 57 | 69 | 78 | 82 | 80 | 72 | 59 | 43 | 30 |
| Rain (in) | 1.2 | 1.1 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.9 | 5.4 | 4.4 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 2.8 | 1.9 | 1.4 |
February is the driest month (1.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 5.4 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in La Crescent Township →
Next door
La Crescent Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
La Crosse50 miLa Crescent9.7 miHokah Township4.1 miMound Prairie Township1.7 miNew Hartford Township1.7 miLa Crescent Township1.1 miDresbach Township0.9 miCampbell0.8 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Crescent Township | 16% | 0.1 | 3 | 51% | C+ |
| La Crescent | 22% | 2.9 | 47 | 99% | A+ |
| Hokah Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Dresbach Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Mound Prairie Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| New Hartford 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 La Crescent Township
How much of La Crescent Township is conserved land?
16% 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 La Crescent Township’s trails?
Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in La Crescent Township?
0.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.9 of painted or protected lanes.
Is there public land near La Crescent Township?
10,818 acres of parks and open public land lie inside La Crescent Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 3 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does La Crescent Township have?
Ahead of 37% 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 La Crescent 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 →