Red Jacket Valley Park
Managed by Blue Earth County
129 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0COutdoors
Outdoors in Mankato Township
Mankato Township has 147 acres of parks, 84 for every 1,000 residents
14% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 1.3 miles of mapped trail cross Mankato Township, 0.1 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 29% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
76 acres · of 24.1 sq mi of land
Trails
1.3 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
147 ac
84 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
14%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
22 mi
0.7 mi lanes · 19 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
5
What kind of outdoors town is Mankato Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Mankato Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Mankato Township is ahead of 29% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Mankato Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical MN town 5% · U.S. 4%C−Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · MN 0.5 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land84 acres of park per 1,000 residents (147 acres) · MN 24 · U.S. 13AParks close to home14% 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 29%
LessMore
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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Rasmussen Woods
Park
10 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Red Jacket Trail Park
Managed by Blue Earth County
9 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
76 conserved acres
1% of Mankato Township’s land. Who manages Mankato Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service37 ac
Other state land32 ac
State natural resources7 ac
Conservation Easement · 69 acState Resource Management Area · 7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miscellaneous State Resource Management Area | State natural resources | 7 | Open |
Trails & water
1 named trail and 5 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 1.3 miUnpaved · 1.3 mi
Indian Lake Park Foot Path1.3 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
22 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.7 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
19 mi
off-road bike paths
2.0 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
When to get out
The walking year in Mankato 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 | 14.7 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 23 | 28 | 41 | 56 | 69 | 79 | 82 | 79 | 73 | 59 | 42 | 28 |
| Rain (in) | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 3.2 | 4.4 | 5.1 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 3.3 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 1.2 |
January is the driest month (0.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 5.1 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Mankato Township →
Next door
Mankato Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Mankato12 miSouth Bend Township6.7 miNorth Mankato3.4 miLe Ray Township1.4 miMankato Township1.3 miEagle Lake1.2 miDecoria Township0.4 miRapidan Township0.3 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mankato Township | 1% | 0.1 | 84 | 14% | C |
| Mankato | 6% | 0.6 | 18 | 93% | A− |
| South Bend Township | 14% | 0.4 | 859 | 74% | A |
| Eagle Lake | 2% | 0.6 | 8 | 89% | B |
| Decoria Township | 1% | under 0.1 | under 1 | under 1% | D |
| North Mankato | 7% | 0.5 | 20 | 98% | A− |
| Le Ray Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Rapidan Township | 2% | under 0.1 | 46 | 12% | C |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Mankato Township
How much of Mankato 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 Mankato Township’s trails?
Red Jacket Valley Park and Rasmussen Woods don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Mankato Township?
22 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.7 of painted or protected lanes, 19 of off-road paths and 2.0 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Mankato Township?
4,964 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Mankato Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 154 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Mankato Township have?
Ahead of 29% 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 Mankato 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 →