Willow Creek Park
Park
15 acres0.8 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
DOutdoors
Outdoors in Maine Prairie Township
Few parks or trails are on the map in Maine Prairie Township
The biggest trail networks: Willow Creek Park (0.8 mi). 1% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 3.0 miles of mapped trail cross Maine Prairie Township.
Ahead of 15% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
520 acres · of 61.9 sq mi of land
Trails
3.0 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
15 ac
7.6 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
1%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
1,381 ft
Mt Aral
Lakes & rivers
9
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Maine Prairie Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Maine Prairie Township is ahead of 15% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; park acres per resident come closest.
D
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Maine Prairie Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical MN town 5% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (3 mi) · MN 0.5 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land7.6 acres of park per 1,000 residents (15 acres) · MN 24 · U.S. 13C+Parks 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 15%
LessMore
Water is 5% of Maine Prairie Township’s area (3 of 65 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 1%.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Maine Prairie 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 range from D to C−. 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 Willow Creek Park, with 0.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Alice Hamm Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
122 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
A Shau Valley Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
115 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Gravel Pit 1672 Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
5 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
520 conserved acres
1% of Maine Prairie Township’s land. Water is left out: Maine Prairie Township has 61.9 square miles of land and 3.3 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Maine Prairie Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service487 ac
State fish & wildlife241 ac
Resource Management Area · 418 acState Conservation Area · 241 acConservation Easement · 69 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 69 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stearns County Waterfowl Production Area Resource Management Area | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 418 | Restricted |
| Alice Hamm State Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 122 | Restricted |
| A Shau Valley State Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 115 | Restricted |
| Gravel Pit 1672 State Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 5 | Restricted |
Things to do
1 places to go in Maine Prairie Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Peaks in Maine Prairie Township
Mt Aral1,381 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
9 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
When to get out
The walking year in Maine Prairie 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) | 9.1 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 14.9 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.4 | 8.7 |
| High (°F) | 21 | 26 | 39 | 54 | 68 | 77 | 81 | 79 | 71 | 56 | 40 | 26 |
| Rain (in) | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 2.7 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.0 | 2.5 | 1.4 | 0.9 |
January is the driest month (0.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 4.3 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Maine Prairie Township →
Next door
Maine Prairie Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Rockville8.4 miWakefield Township4.8 miSt. Augusta3.4 miMaine Prairie Township3.0 miLuxemburg Township2.2 miFair Haven Township1.4 miForest Prairie Township0.5 miKingston Township0.2 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maine Prairie Township | 1% | under 0.1 | 8 | 1% | D |
| Fair Haven Township | 1% | under 0.1 | 3 | 24% | D |
| Luxemburg Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Rockville | 1% | 0.3 | 161 | 47% | B− |
| St. Augusta | 1% | 0.1 | 25 | 18% | C |
| Kingston Township | 4% | under 0.1 | 6 | under 1% | C− |
| Forest Prairie Township | 5% | under 0.1 | 32 | 5% | C |
| Wakefield Township | 2% | 0.2 | 94 | 23% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Maine Prairie Township
Where can I hike in Maine Prairie Township?
The longest trail networks: Willow Creek Park, 0.8 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Maine Prairie Township is conserved land?
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 Maine Prairie Township’s trails?
Willow Creek Park and Alice Hamm Wildlife Management Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Maine Prairie Township?
3,903 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Maine Prairie Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 15 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Maine Prairie Township have?
Ahead of 15% 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 Maine Prairie 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 →