Chain of Lakes County Park
Managed by Stearns County
250 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Wakefield Township
Wakefield Township has 262 acres of parks, 94 for every 1,000 residents
23% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 4.8 miles of mapped trail cross Wakefield Township, 0.2 per square mile of land. 2% of Wakefield Township’s land is conserved, about 404 acres.
Ahead of 44% of U.S. towns · #225 of 274 in Minnesota. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
404 acres · of 29.8 sq mi of land
Trails
4.8 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
262 ac
94 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
23%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.8 mi
2.8 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
11
What kind of outdoors town is Wakefield Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Wakefield Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Wakefield Township is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns, #225 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 Wakefield Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical MN town 5% · U.S. 4%C+Trails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (5 mi) · MN 0.5 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land94 acres of park per 1,000 residents (262 acres) · MN 24 · U.S. 13AParks close to home23% 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 44%
LessMore
Minnesota towns of 2,500+ (274)Ahead of 18%
Water is 8% of Wakefield Township’s area (2 of 32 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 2%.
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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Discovery Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
128 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Richmond Community Park
Park
11 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
404 conserved acres
2% of Wakefield Township’s land. Water is left out: Wakefield Township has 29.8 square miles of land and 2.4 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Wakefield Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service213 ac
State fish & wildlife128 ac
State natural resources64 ac
Conservation Easement · 213 acState Conservation Area · 191 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 213 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery State Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 126 | Restricted |
| Cold Spring Heron Colony State Scientific and Natural Area State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 64 | Restricted |
| Cedar Island Lake State Aquatic Management Area (Stearns) State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 1 | Restricted |
Trails & water
11 lakes & rivers
Biking & sports
2.8 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.8 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
2Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
September is the best month for walking in Wakefield 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) | 20 | 26 | 39 | 54 | 68 | 77 | 81 | 79 | 71 | 56 | 39 | 26 |
| Rain (in) | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 2.6 | 3.6 | 4.4 | 4.1 | 3.9 | 2.9 | 2.6 | 1.4 | 0.9 |
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 Wakefield Township →
Next door
Wakefield Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Rockville8.4 miCollegeville Township6.4 miWakefield Township4.8 miMaine Prairie Township3.0 miLuxemburg Township2.2 miMunson Township1.1 miRichmond0.3 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wakefield Township | 2% | 0.2 | 94 | 23% | C+ |
| Munson Township | under 1% | under 0.1 | under 1 | 9% | D |
| Richmond | under 1% | 0.3 | 10 | 48% | C |
| Collegeville Township | 6% | 0.2 | 2 | 1% | C− |
| Luxemburg Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Rockville | 1% | 0.3 | 161 | 47% | B− |
| Maine Prairie Township | 1% | under 0.1 | 8 | 1% | D |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Wakefield Township
How much of Wakefield 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 Wakefield Township’s trails?
Chain of Lakes County Park and Discovery Wildlife Management Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Wakefield Township?
2.8 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.8 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Wakefield Township?
1,946 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Wakefield Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 262 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Wakefield Township have?
Ahead of 44% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #225 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 Wakefield 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 →