Chester Woods Park
Park
651 acres10.3 mi of trail
Zieman Loop TrailNorth TrailPrairie Ridge TrailNorth Sand Prairie Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Marion Township
Marion Township has 649 acres of parks, 158 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Chester Woods Park (10.3 mi). 9% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 14 miles of mapped trail cross Marion Township, 0.5 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 44% of U.S. towns · #226 of 274 in Minnesota. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
118 acres · of 29.1 sq mi of land
Trails
14 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
649 ac
158 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
9%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
5.6 mi
5.6 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
What kind of outdoors town is Marion Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Marion Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Marion Township is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns, #226 of 274 in Minnesota. 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 Marion Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical MN town 5% · U.S. 4%C−Trails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (14 mi) · MN 0.5 · U.S. 0.4BPark land158 acres of park per 1,000 residents (649 acres) · MN 24 · U.S. 13AParks close to home9% 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 44%
LessMore
Minnesota towns of 2,500+ (274)Ahead of 18%
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 Chester Woods Park, with 10.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Eastside Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
119 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Gamehaven Reservoir Park
Managed by City of Rochester
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Pinewood Hills Park (UNDEVELOPED)
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
118 conserved acres
1% of Marion Township’s land. Who manages Marion Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State fish & wildlife118 ac
State Conservation Area · 118 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eastside State Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 118 | Restricted |
Things to do
7 places to go in Marion Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Scenic views in Marion Township
benchIn Chester Woods Park
DirectionsbenchIn Chester Woods Park
DirectionsbenchIn Chester Woods Park
DirectionsbenchIn Chester Woods Park
DirectionsCampgrounds in Marion Township
Gamehaven Scout CampGamehaven Council / Boy Scouts of America
DirectionsPlus 2 campgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
12 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 2.4 miHorses · 8.6 miUnpaved · 12.9 mi
Zieman Loop Trail2.9 mi
North Trail2.6 mi
Prairie Ridge Trail1.7 mi
3.5 Mile Border Trail1.6 mi
North Sand Prairie Trail1.3 mi
South Sand Prairie Trail1.1 mi
Link Trail0.3 mi
Zieman Loop0.2 mi
Homestead Site Trail0.2 mi
Prairie Ridge / N Sand Prairie Tr0.1 mi
2 more trails
3.5 Mi Border Tr
0.1 miZieman Lp / S Sand Prairie Tr
0.1 miLakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
5.6 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
5.6 mi
off-road bike paths
When to get out
The walking year in Marion 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 | 9.6 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 23 | 28 | 41 | 56 | 68 | 78 | 81 | 79 | 72 | 58 | 42 | 29 |
| Rain (in) | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.6 | 4.6 | 5.5 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 3.8 | 2.5 | 1.8 | 1.3 |
January is the driest month (1.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 5.5 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Marion Township →
Next door
Marion Township and its neighbors
Marion Township has the second most mapped trails of the 6 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Rochester34 miMarion Township14 miPleasant Grove Township7.9 miEyota Township5.7 miHaverhill Township2.3 miRochester Township2.2 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marion Township | 1% | 0.5 | 158 | 9% | C+ |
| Rochester | 4% | 0.6 | 30 | 97% | A− |
| Pleasant Grove Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Haverhill Township | 2% | 0.1 | 205 | 12% | C+ |
| Eyota Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Rochester Township | 1% | 0.1 | 45 | 21% | C |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Marion Township
Where can I hike in Marion Township?
The longest trail networks: Chester Woods Park, 10.3 miles; Eastside Wildlife Management Area, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Marion 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 Marion Township’s trails?
Chester Woods Park and Eastside Wildlife Management Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Marion Township?
5.6 miles of bike routes are on the map: 5.6 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Marion Township?
7,141 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Marion Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 649 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Marion Township have?
Ahead of 44% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #226 of 274 in Minnesota. 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 Marion 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 →