Poor Farm Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
314 acres1.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
COutdoors
Outdoors in Oak Lawn Township
Oak Lawn Township has 9.7 miles of mapped trails, 0.3 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: Poor Farm Wildlife Management Area (1.7 mi). 5% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 10 acres are parks and preserves, 5.6 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 29% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
4%
938 acres · of 34.5 sq mi of land
Trails
9.7 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
10 ac
5.6 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
5%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
5
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Oak Lawn Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Oak Lawn Township is ahead of 29% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Oak Lawn Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land4% of the land · typical MN town 5% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (10 mi) · MN 0.5 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land5.6 acres of park per 1,000 residents (10 acres) · MN 24 · U.S. 13CParks close to home5% 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 29%
LessMore
Water is 6% of Oak Lawn Township’s area (2 of 37 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 4%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C− 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 Poor Farm WMA, with 1.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Loerch Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
167 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area
Park
11 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
938 conserved acres
4% of Oak Lawn Township’s land. Water is left out: Oak Lawn Township has 34.5 square miles of land and 2.3 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Oak Lawn Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State fish & wildlife496 ac
State natural resources442 ac
State Conservation Area · 496 acState Resource Management Area · 442 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miscellaneous State Resource Management Area | State natural resources | 442 | Open |
| Poor Farm State Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 315 | Restricted |
| Loerch State Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 167 | Restricted |
| Whitley's Creek State Aquatic Management Area (Crow Wing) State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 15 | Restricted |
Trails & water
1 named trail and 5 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Eagleview Drive Northeast0.2 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
When to get out
The walking year in Oak Lawn 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) | 9.0 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 15.0 | 15.8 | 15.4 | 14.2 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.3 | 8.6 |
| High (°F) | 19 | 25 | 38 | 53 | 67 | 76 | 80 | 78 | 69 | 54 | 38 | 25 |
| Rain (in) | 0.7 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 2.3 | 3.6 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 3.6 | 3.0 | 2.8 | 1.3 | 0.9 |
January is the driest month (0.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 4.5 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Oak Lawn Township →
Next door
Oak Lawn Township and its neighbors
Oak Lawn Township has the second most mapped trails of the 7 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Irondale Township16 miOak Lawn Township9.7 miBrainerd7.4 miNokay Lake Township3.7 miRiverton1.7 miCenter Township1.0 miLong Lake Township0.9 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oak Lawn Township | 4% | 0.3 | 6 | 5% | C |
| Brainerd | 6% | 0.6 | 26 | 87% | A− |
| Center Township | 6% | 0.1 | under 1 | under 1% | D |
| Nokay Lake Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Irondale Township | 5% | 0.6 | 227 | 6% | B |
| Long Lake Township | 2% | under 0.1 | under 1 | under 1% | D |
| Riverton | — 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 Oak Lawn Township
Where can I hike in Oak Lawn Township?
The longest trail networks: Poor Farm Wildlife Management Area, 1.7 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Oak Lawn Township is conserved land?
4% 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 Oak Lawn Township’s trails?
Poor Farm Wildlife Management Area and Loerch Wildlife Management Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Oak Lawn Township?
13,348 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Oak Lawn Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 448 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Oak Lawn 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 Oak Lawn 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 →