Joe Huffman Park
Park
8 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Medary Township
13% of Medary Township’s land is conserved: 2,737 acres
58 acres are parks and preserves, 40 per 1,000 residents. 0.6 miles of mapped trail cross Medary Township. 24% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 47% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
13%
2,737 acres · of 33.2 sq mi of land
Trails
0.6 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
58 ac
40 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
24%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.7 mi
0.7 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
3
2 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Medary Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Medary Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Medary Township is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Medary Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land13% of the land · typical SD town 3% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · SD 0.5 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land40 acres of park per 1,000 residents (58 acres) · SD 13 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home24% of residents within a half mile of a park · SD 87% · U.S. 72%C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 47%
LessMore
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Medary 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 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.
Who protects it
2,737 conserved acres
13% of Medary Township’s land. Who manages Medary Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
USDA easements (NRCS)2,498 ac
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service167 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits77 ac
Town or city56 ac
State fish & wildlife15 ac
Conservation Easement · 2,742 acLocal Conservation Area · 38 acLocal Park · 18 acState Conservation Area · 15 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 2,666 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brookings Prairie Local Conservation Area | Town or city | 38 | Open |
| Dakota Nature Park Local Park | Town or city | 18 | Open |
| Lake Campbell State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 15 | Restricted |
Things to do
2 places to go in Medary Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in Medary Township
2 boat launches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
3 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.7 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.7 mi
off-road bike paths
History along the way
History →2 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 Medary 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 | 14.8 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 23 | 28 | 41 | 56 | 68 | 78 | 82 | 80 | 73 | 58 | 41 | 28 |
| Rain (in) | 0.6 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 2.6 | 3.6 | 4.2 | 3.7 | 3.3 | 3.0 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 0.8 |
January is the driest month (0.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 4.2 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Medary Township →
Next door
Medary Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medary Township | 13% | under 0.1 | 40 | 24% | B− |
| Brookings | 6% | 0.4 | 27 | 99%+ | A− |
| Trenton Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Fremont Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Oslo 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 Medary Township
How much of Medary Township is conserved land?
13% of its land, against a typical 3% for a South Dakota town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Medary Township’s trails?
Joe Huffman Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Medary Township?
0.7 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.7 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Medary Township?
709 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Medary Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 58 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Medary Township have?
Ahead of 47% 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 Medary 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 →