Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge
Nature preserve
1,353 acres8.1 mi of trail
Mazomani TrailMinnesota Valley State TrailJab's Dike Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailhead
St. Mary's Church of the Purification-Catholic · Photo: Appraiser · CC BY-SA 4.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Louisville Township
Louisville Township has 1,231 acres of parks, 855 for every 1,000 residents
22 miles of mapped trail cross Louisville Township, 1.5 per square mile of land. 15% of Louisville Township’s land is conserved, about 1,371 acres. The biggest trail networks: Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge (8.1 mi), Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area - Gifford Lake Unit (5.3 mi), Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area - Carver Rapids Unit (4.6 mi).
Ahead of 81% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
15%
1,371 acres · of 14.0 sq mi of land
Trails
22 mi
1.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
1,231 ac
855 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
2%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.0 mi
1.0 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
5
2 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Louisville Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Louisville Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Louisville Township is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Louisville Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land15% of the land · typical MN town 5% · U.S. 4%A−Trails1.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (22 mi) · MN 0.5 · U.S. 0.4APark land855 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,231 acres) · MN 24 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home2% 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 81%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ 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 Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, with 8.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area - Gifford Lake Unit
Park
703 acres5.3 mi of trail
Minnesota Valley State TrailGifford Spur
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area - Carver Rapids Unit
Park
504 acres4.6 mi of trail
Minnesota Valley State TrailJohnson Slough TrailMazomani Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area - Nyssen's Lake Unit
Park
18 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
1,371 conserved acres
15% of Louisville Township’s land. Who manages Louisville Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service2,740 ac
National Wildlife Refuge · 2,740 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuge | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 2,740 | Restricted |
Things to do
4 places to go in Louisville Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in Louisville Township
2 boat launches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Fishing spots in Louisville Township
1 fishing spot without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Campgrounds in Louisville Township
Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area - Carver Rapids Hike-In CampsiteIn Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area - Carver Rapids Unit · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
DirectionsTrails & water
6 named trails and 5 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 17.8 miHorses · 2.6 miUnpaved · 16.2 mi
Minnesota Valley State Trail6.3 mi
Mazomani Trail4.5 mi
Johnson Slough Trail0.9 mi
State Trail Access Trail0.7 mi
Jab's Dike Trail0.7 mi
Gifford Spur0.5 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
1.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.0 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
1Equestrian
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 4 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
St. Mary's Church of the Purification-CatholicBuilding · listed 1980
About itWhen to get out
The walking year in Louisville 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 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°F) | 23 | 28 | 41 | 56 | 69 | 78 | 82 | 80 | 72 | 58 | 41 | 28 |
| Rain (in) | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 3.0 | 4.4 | 5.0 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 3.3 | 2.6 | 1.6 | 1.1 |
January is the driest month (0.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 5.0 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Louisville Township →
Next door
Louisville Township and its neighbors
Louisville Township has the most mapped trails of the 6 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Louisville Township22 miShakopee19 miSand Creek Township11 miCarver8.0 miSan Francisco Township2.6 miJackson Township1.6 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louisville Township | 15% | 1.5 | 855 | 2% | A− |
| Carver | 43% | 1.6 | 86 | 91% | A+ |
| San Francisco Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Jackson Township | under 1% | 0.3 | 370 | 41% | B− |
| Sand Creek Township | 6% | 0.3 | 149 | 8% | B |
| Shakopee | 11% | 0.7 | 30 | 98% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Louisville Township
Where can I hike in Louisville Township?
The longest trail networks: Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, 8.1 miles; Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area - Gifford Lake Unit, 5.3 miles; Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area - Carver Rapids Unit, 4.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Louisville Township is conserved land?
15% 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 Louisville Township’s trails?
Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge and Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area - Gifford Lake Unit don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Louisville Township?
1.0 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.0 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Louisville Township?
23,994 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Louisville Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,231 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Louisville Township have?
Ahead of 81% 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 Louisville 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 →