Turtle River State Park
Managed by North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department
214 acres1.5 mi of trail
Eco LoopCattail LoopNordic Ski Trail APPROXIMATE
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: In memoriam afiler · CC BY-SA 2.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Mekinock Township
Mekinock Township has 307 acres of parks, 138 for every 1,000 residents
94% of residents live within a half mile of a park. The biggest trail networks: Turtle River State Park (1.5 mi). 23 miles of mapped trail cross Mekinock Township, 0.6 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 77% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
286 acres · of 36.5 sq mi of land
Trails
23 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
307 ac
138 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
94%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
9.0 mi
5.8 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Mekinock Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Mekinock Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Mekinock Township is ahead of 77% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Mekinock Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical ND town 3% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (23 mi) · ND 0.7 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land138 acres of park per 1,000 residents (307 acres) · ND 10 · U.S. 13AParks close to home94% of residents within a half mile of a park · ND 71% · U.S. 72%A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 77%
LessMore
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 Turtle River State Park, with 1.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Prarie Chicken Wildlife Management Area
Managed by North Dakota Game and Fish Department
88 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
286 conserved acres
1% of Mekinock Township’s land. Who manages Mekinock Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State parks161 ac
State fish & wildlife85 ac
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service40 ac
State Park · 161 acState Conservation Area · 85 acConservation Easement · 40 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 40 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turtle River State Park State Park | State parks | 161 | Open |
| Prairie Chicken State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 85 | Restricted |
Things to do
11 places to go in Mekinock Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Mekinock Township
8 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Mekinock Township
1 dog park without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Campgrounds in Mekinock Township
Grand Forks AFB FamCamp
DirectionsPlus 1 campground without a name on the map.
Trails & water
7 named trails
Named trails
Unpaved · 21.0 mi
22nd Avenue Northeast2.0 mi
27th Street Northeast1.6 mi
29th Street Northeast1.1 mi
31st Street Northeast0.9 mi
Eco Loop0.7 mi
Cattail Loop0.3 mi
Nordic Ski Trail APPROXIMATE0.2 mi
Biking & sports
9.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
5.8 mi
off-road bike paths
3.2 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
4Basketball
3Softball
2Baseball
2Volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Mekinock Township: August and September
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) | 8.8 | 10.2 | 11.7 | 13.6 | 15.1 | 16.0 | 15.7 | 14.3 | 12.5 | 10.7 | 9.2 | 8.4 |
| High (°F) | 16 | 21 | 34 | 53 | 67 | 77 | 81 | 80 | 71 | 54 | 36 | 22 |
| Rain (in) | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 2.8 | 3.8 | 3.5 | 2.6 | 2.3 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 0.7 |
February is the driest month (0.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 3.8 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Mekinock Township →
Next door
Mekinock Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Lakeville Township34 miGilby Township25 miMekinock Township23 miHegton Township20 miGrand Forks AFB16 miBlooming Township13 miChester Township13 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mekinock Township | 1% | 0.6 | 138 | 94% | A− |
| Hegton Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Gilby Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Chester Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Grand Forks AFB | under 1% | 2.2 | 32 | 99%+ | A− |
| Blooming Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Lakeville Township | — 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 Mekinock Township
Where can I hike in Mekinock Township?
The longest trail networks: Turtle River State Park, 1.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Mekinock Township is conserved land?
1% of its land, against a typical 3% for a North Dakota town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Mekinock Township’s trails?
Turtle River State Park and Prarie Chicken Wildlife Management Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Mekinock Township?
9.0 miles of bike routes are on the map: 5.8 of off-road paths and 3.2 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Mekinock Township?
3,313 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Mekinock Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 307 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Mekinock Township have?
Ahead of 77% 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 Mekinock 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 →