Whitelaw Community Park
Park
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: User:Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 2.5DOutdoors
Outdoors in Cato
Few parks or trails are on the map in Cato
1% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 0.9 miles of mapped trail cross Cato. 3 acres are parks and preserves, 1.9 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 5% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
8 acres · of 34.5 sq mi of land
Trails
0.9 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
3 ac
1.9 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
1%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.8 mi
Lakes & rivers
5
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Cato have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Cato is ahead of 5% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; park acres per resident come closest.
D
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Cato’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical WI town 4% · U.S. 4%DTrails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · WI 0.4 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land1.9 acres of park per 1,000 residents (3 acres) · WI 31 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home1% of residents within a half mile of a park · WI 90% · U.S. 72%D
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 5%
LessMore
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Cato. 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
8 conserved acres
under 1% of Cato’s land. Who manages Cato’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources8 ac
Conservation Easement · 8 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 8 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
Trails & water
5 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.8 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.8 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
When to get out
September is the best month for walking in Cato
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) | 26 | 29 | 40 | 53 | 65 | 75 | 80 | 78 | 71 | 57 | 43 | 31 |
| Rain (in) | 1.5 | 1.2 | 2.0 | 3.3 | 3.7 | 4.4 | 3.7 | 3.5 | 2.9 | 3.0 | 2.2 | 1.7 |
February is the driest month (1.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 4.4 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Cato →
Next door
Cato 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cato | under 1% | under 0.1 | 2 | 1% | D |
| Valders | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Liberty | under 1% | 0.1 | under 1 | under 1% | D− |
| Rockland | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Manitowoc Rapids | under 1% | 0.1 | 17 | 35% | C− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Cato
How much of Cato is conserved land?
under 1% of its land, against a typical 4% for a Wisconsin town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Cato’s trails?
Whitelaw Community Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Cato?
0.8 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.8 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Cato?
16,648 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Cato or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 10 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Cato have?
Ahead of 5% 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 Cato 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 →