Sidie Hollow County Park
Park
157 acres0.9 mi of trail
Lake Loop
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
COutdoors
Outdoors in Franklin
Franklin has 516 acres of parks, 510 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Sidie Hollow County Park (0.9 mi). 6% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 1.2 miles of mapped trail cross Franklin.
Ahead of 33% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
515 acres · of 51.5 sq mi of land
Trails
1.2 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
516 ac
510 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
6%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.0 mi
2.0 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
3
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Franklin?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Franklin have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Franklin is ahead of 33% of U.S. towns. 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 Franklin’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical WI town 4% · U.S. 4%C+Trails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · WI 0.4 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land510 acres of park per 1,000 residents (516 acres) · WI 31 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home6% 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 33%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from D 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
The longest trail network is Sidie Hollow County Park, with 0.9 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Wayside
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
515 conserved acres
2% of Franklin’s land. Who manages Franklin’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources514 ac
Private owners22 ac
State Recreation Area · 371 acState Conservation Area · 143 acRecreation or Education Easement · 21 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1 acre is a conservation easement, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| La Crosse Area Comprehensive Fishery Area State Recreation Area | Private owners | 371 | Open |
| Bad Axe Watershed State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 143 | Closed |
Things to do
5 places to go in Franklin
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in Franklin
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Scenic views in Franklin
1 scenic view without a name on the map.
Peaks in Franklin
5-Column Rock
DirectionsMonument Rock
DirectionsCampgrounds in Franklin
Sidie Hollow County Park Boat Landing CampgroundIn Sidie Hollow County Park
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail and 3 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 0.7 miUnpaved · 0.9 mi
Lake Loop0.7 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
2.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.0 mi
off-road bike paths
When to get out
The walking year in Franklin
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 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 24 | 30 | 42 | 56 | 68 | 77 | 81 | 79 | 72 | 59 | 43 | 30 |
| Rain (in) | 1.2 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 3.9 | 4.8 | 5.7 | 4.7 | 4.4 | 4.1 | 2.8 | 2.1 | 1.4 |
February is the driest month (1.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 5.7 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Franklin →
Next door
Franklin and its neighbors
Franklin has the second most mapped trails of the 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin | 2% | under 0.1 | 510 | 6% | C |
| Viroqua | 1% | under 0.1 | 76 | 12% | C |
| Jefferson | 4% | under 0.1 | 989 | 29% | B− |
| Kickapoo | — 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 Franklin
Where can I hike in Franklin?
The longest trail networks: Sidie Hollow County Park, 0.9 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Franklin is conserved land?
2% 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 Franklin’s trails?
Sidie Hollow County Park and Wayside don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Franklin?
2.0 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.0 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Franklin?
4,192 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Franklin or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 516 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Franklin have?
Ahead of 33% 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 Franklin 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 →