Hickory Hill Conservancy Park
Nature preserve
50 acres0.8 mi of trail
Ice Age Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Cross Plains
7% of Cross Plains’ land is conserved, and virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 2.7 miles of mapped trail cross Cross Plains, 1.4 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Hickory Hill Conservancy Park (0.8 mi), Glacial Valley Conservancy (0.7 mi).
Ahead of 90% of U.S. towns · #53 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it
Conserved land
7%
88 acres · of 1.9 sq mi of land
Trails
2.7 mi
1.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
54 ac
13 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.7 mi
1.9 mi lanes · 0.8 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Cross Plains?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Cross Plains have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Cross Plains is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns, #53 of 362 in Wisconsin. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park ranks highest, park acres per resident lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Cross Plains’ overall grade.
Conserved land7% of the land · typical WI town 4% · U.S. 4%B+Trails1.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (3 mi) · WI 0.4 · U.S. 0.4APark land13 acres of park per 1,000 residents (54 acres) · WI 31 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · WI 90% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 90%
LessMore
Wisconsin towns of 2,500+ (362)Ahead of 86%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− 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 Hickory Hill Conservancy Park, with 0.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Glacial Valley Conservancy
Nature preserve
48 acres0.7 mi of trail
Ice Age Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Cedar Hill Conservancy
Nature preserve
19 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 14 parks & preserves
Hickory Hill Conservancy Park50 acres · 0.8 mi of trail
Glacial Valley Conservancy48 acres · 0.7 mi of trail
Zander Community Nature Park11 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsDorothy Statz Conservancy5 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Black Earth Creek Fishery Area3 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsCedar Hill Conservancy19 acres
Baer Park15 acres
DirectionsGlacial Valley Park4 acres
American Legion Park3 acres
DirectionsRaspberry Park2 acres
Westview Park2 acres
Municipal Park1 acres
Hollfelder Park1 acres
Brewery Park1 acres
Who protects it
88 conserved acres
7% of Cross Plains’ land. Who manages Cross Plains’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits51 ac
Town or city31 ac
State natural resources4 ac
Conservation Easement · 51 acLocal Park · 31 acState Recreation Area · 4 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 52 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baer Park Local Park | Town or city | 15 | Open |
| Raspberry Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Black Earth Creek Fishery Area State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 4 | Open |
| Municipal Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Glacial Valley Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Hollfelder Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| Westview Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| Melody Acres Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| Brewery Creekside Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
13 places to go in Cross Plains
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Cross Plains
Village of Cross Plains PoolIn Municipal Park
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Cross Plains
Melody Park
DirectionsPlus 10 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Scenic views in Cross Plains
1 scenic view without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Unpaved · 1.5 mi
Ice Age Trail1.5 mi
Biking & sports
2.7 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.9 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
0.8 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
1Beach volleyball
1Baseball
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 Cross Plains
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) | 9.3 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 27 | 32 | 44 | 57 | 69 | 79 | 82 | 80 | 73 | 60 | 45 | 32 |
| Rain (in) | 1.4 | 1.4 | 2.2 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 5.5 | 4.6 | 4.2 | 3.7 | 2.9 | 2.2 | 1.6 |
January is the driest month (1.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 5.5 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Cross Plains →
Next door
Cross Plains and its neighbors
Cross Plains has the second most mapped trails of the 2 towns around it. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cross Plains | 7% | 1.4 | 13 | 99%+ | A |
| Berry | 4% | 0.7 | 245 | 25% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Cross Plains
Where can I hike in Cross Plains?
The longest trail networks: Hickory Hill Conservancy Park, 0.8 miles; Glacial Valley Conservancy, 0.7 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Cross Plains is conserved land?
7% 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 Cross Plains’ trails?
Hickory Hill Conservancy Park and Glacial Valley Conservancy don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Cross Plains?
2.7 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.9 of painted or protected lanes and 0.8 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Cross Plains?
9,864 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Cross Plains or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 106 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Cross Plains have?
Ahead of 90% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #53 of 362 in Wisconsin. 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 Cross Plains 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 →