Paul M Thiede Fire Tower Park
Managed by Crow Wing County
107 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Iulus Ascanius at English Wikipedia · Public domainB+Outdoors
Outdoors in Pequot Lakes
Pequot Lakes has 121 acres of parks, 58 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Paul M Thiede Fire Tower Park (0.7 mi). 11 miles of mapped trail cross Pequot Lakes, 0.7 per square mile of land. 4% of Pequot Lakes’ land is conserved, about 440 acres.
Ahead of 72% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
4%
440 acres · of 16.4 sq mi of land
Trails
11 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
121 ac
58 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
56%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
6.6 mi
6.6 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
8
1 beach · 1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Pequot Lakes?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Pequot Lakes have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Pequot Lakes is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Pequot Lakes’ overall grade.
Conserved land4% of the land · typical MN town 5% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (11 mi) · MN 0.5 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land58 acres of park per 1,000 residents (121 acres) · MN 24 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home56% of residents within a half mile of a park · MN 95% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 72%
LessMore
Water is 10% of Pequot Lakes’ area (2 of 18 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 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 Paul M Thiede Fire Tower Park, with 0.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Lowell Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
155 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
440 conserved acres
4% of Pequot Lakes’ land. Water is left out: Pequot Lakes has 16.4 square miles of land and 1.8 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Pequot Lakes’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources281 ac
State fish & wildlife160 ac
State Resource Management Area · 281 acState Conservation Area · 160 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miscellaneous State Resource Management Area | State natural resources | 281 | Open |
| Lowell State Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 155 | Restricted |
| East Twin Lake State Aquatic Management Area (Crow Wing) State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 5 | Restricted |
Things to do
5 places to go in Pequot Lakes
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Pequot Lakes
1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Playgrounds in Pequot Lakes
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Pequot Lakes
Pequot Lakes Dog Park
DirectionsBoat launches in Pequot Lakes
1 boat launch without a name on the map.
Trails & water
8 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
6.6 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
6.6 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
7Tennis
5Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →3 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The walking year in Pequot Lakes
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 | 10.2 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 15.0 | 15.8 | 15.5 | 14.2 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.3 | 8.6 |
| High (°F) | 19 | 25 | 38 | 53 | 66 | 75 | 80 | 78 | 69 | 54 | 38 | 24 |
| Rain (in) | 0.7 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 3.4 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 3.4 | 2.9 | 2.7 | 1.2 | 0.9 |
January is the driest month (0.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 4.4 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Pequot Lakes →
Next door
Pequot Lakes and its neighbors
Pequot Lakes has the most mapped trails of the 6 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Pequot Lakes11 miLoon Lake Township5.7 miBreezy Point2.8 miPelican Township2.5 miNisswa0.7 miIdeal Township0.6 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pequot Lakes | 4% | 0.7 | 58 | 56% | B+ |
| Loon Lake Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Nisswa | 2% | 0.1 | 2 | 8% | D |
| Pelican Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Breezy Point | 3% | 0.2 | under 1 | under 1% | D |
| Ideal Township | 6% | under 0.1 | under 1 | under 1% | D |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Pequot Lakes
Where can I hike in Pequot Lakes?
The longest trail networks: Paul M Thiede Fire Tower Park, 0.7 miles; Lowell Wildlife Management Area, 0.3 miles; Trailside Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Pequot Lakes 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 Pequot Lakes’ trails?
Paul M Thiede Fire Tower Park and Lowell Wildlife Management Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Pequot Lakes?
6.6 miles of bike routes are on the map: 6.6 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Pequot Lakes?
12,756 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Pequot Lakes or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 365 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Pequot Lakes have?
Ahead of 72% 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 Pequot Lakes 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 →