Crooked Road Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
380 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 4.0DOutdoors
Outdoors in Spencer Brook Township
Few parks or trails are on the map in Spencer Brook Township
0.3 miles of mapped trail cross Spencer Brook Township. 3% of Spencer Brook Township’s land is conserved, about 665 acres.
Ahead of 8% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
665 acres · of 33.7 sq mi of land
Trails
0.3 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Near a park
under 1%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
6
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Spencer Brook Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Spencer Brook Township is ahead of 8% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
D
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Spencer Brook Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical MN town 5% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · MN 0.5 · U.S. 0.4DPark land0.0 acres of park per 1,000 residents (0 acres) · MN 24 · U.S. 13DParks close to home0% 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 8%
LessMore
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Spencer Brook Township. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to D. 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.
Who protects it
665 conserved acres
3% of Spencer Brook Township’s land. Who manages Spencer Brook Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State fish & wildlife610 ac
State natural resources39 ac
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service9 ac
Other state land5 ac
State Conservation Area · 610 acState Resource Management Area · 39 acConservation Easement · 15 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crooked Road State Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 379 | Restricted |
| Spencer Brook State Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 231 | Restricted |
| Miscellaneous State Resource Management Area | State natural resources | 39 | Open |
Trails & water
6 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
District No. 1 SchoolBuilding · listed 1980
About itWhen to get out
The walking year in Spencer Brook 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) | 9.1 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 14.9 | 15.7 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.4 | 8.7 |
| High (°F) | 22 | 27 | 40 | 55 | 68 | 77 | 81 | 79 | 71 | 57 | 40 | 27 |
| Rain (in) | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 2.8 | 4.1 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.1 | 3.3 | 2.8 | 1.5 | 1.1 |
January is the driest month (0.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 4.4 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Spencer Brook Township →
Next door
Spencer Brook Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Baldwin1.8 miStanford Township1.3 miWyanett Township1.3 miSpencer Brook Township0.3 miBradford Township0.1 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spencer Brook Township | 3% | under 0.1 | under 1 | under 1% | D |
| Stanford Township | 2% | under 0.1 | 2 | 3% | D |
| Bradford Township | 1% | under 0.1 | 19 | 13% | C− |
| Wyanett Township | 2% | under 0.1 | under 1 | under 1% | D |
| Baldwin | under 1% | 0.1 | 11 | 5% | C− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Spencer Brook Township
How much of Spencer Brook Township is conserved land?
3% 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 Spencer Brook Township’s trails?
Crooked Road Wildlife Management Area doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Spencer Brook Township?
6,057 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Spencer Brook Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 39 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Spencer Brook Township have?
Ahead of 8% 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 Spencer Brook 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 →