Rapidan Dam County Park
Managed by Blue Earth County
43 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
COutdoors
Outdoors in Rapidan Township
Few parks or trails are on the map in Rapidan Township
43 acres are parks and preserves, 46 per 1,000 residents. 0.3 miles of mapped trail cross Rapidan Township. 12% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 30% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
526 acres · of 35.1 sq mi of land
Trails
0.3 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
43 ac
46 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
12%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.0 mi
1.0 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
4
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Rapidan Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Rapidan Township is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Rapidan Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical MN town 5% · U.S. 4%C+Trails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · MN 0.5 · U.S. 0.4DPark land46 acres of park per 1,000 residents (43 acres) · MN 24 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home12% 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 30%
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.
Saiki Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
40 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Gage Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
34 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
526 conserved acres
2% of Rapidan Township’s land. Who manages Rapidan Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Other state land351 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)89 ac
State fish & wildlife74 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government11 ac
Conservation Easement · 451 acState Conservation Area · 74 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 451 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saiki State Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 40 | Restricted |
| Gage State Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 34 | Restricted |
Things to do
5 places to go in Rapidan Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Waterfalls in Rapidan Township
Bigger Manitou Falls
DirectionsCampgrounds in Rapidan Township
Sites 1-4Fee · In Rapidan Dam County Park
DirectionsSites 5-6Fee · In Rapidan Dam County Park
DirectionsSites 7-20Fee · In Rapidan Dam County Park · Blue Earth County
DirectionsPlus 1 campground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
4 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
1.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.0 mi
off-road bike paths
When to get out
September is the best month for walking in Rapidan 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 | 69 | 79 | 82 | 80 | 73 | 59 | 42 | 28 |
| Rain (in) | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 3.3 | 4.3 | 5.1 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 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 Rapidan Township →
Next door
Rapidan Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
South Bend Township6.7 miMankato Township1.3 miLyra Township0.8 miGarden City Township0.5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rapidan Township | 2% | under 0.1 | 46 | 12% | C |
| Decoria Township | 1% | under 0.1 | under 1 | under 1% | D |
| Lyra Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| South Bend Township | 14% | 0.4 | 859 | 74% | A |
| Garden City Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Mankato Township | 1% | 0.1 | 84 | 14% | C |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Rapidan Township
How much of Rapidan Township is conserved land?
2% 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 Rapidan Township’s trails?
Rapidan Dam County Park and Saiki Wildlife Management Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Rapidan Township?
1.0 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.0 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Rapidan Township?
2,926 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Rapidan Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 43 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Rapidan Township have?
Ahead of 30% 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 Rapidan 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 →