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C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Garfield

Garfield has 337 acres of parks, 198 for every 1,000 residents

25% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 1% of Garfield’s land is conserved, about 250 acres. 7.0 miles of mapped trail cross Garfield, 0.2 per square mile of land.

Ahead of 44% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Conserved land
1%
250 acres · of 32.8 sq mi of land
Trails
7.0 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
337 ac
198 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
25%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
14
3 boat launches

What kind of outdoors town is Garfield?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Room to roam198 acres of park per 1,000 residents; the typical U.S. town has 13.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Garfield have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Garfield is ahead of 44% 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 Garfield’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical WI town 4% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (7 mi) · WI 0.4 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land198 acres of park per 1,000 residents (337 acres) · WI 31 · U.S. 13AParks close to home25% of residents within a half mile of a park · WI 90% · U.S. 72%C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 44%
LessMore

Water is 7% of Garfield’s area (2 of 35 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 1%.

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.

123
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.

Garfield Recreation Area

Nature preserve
188 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

Balsam Branch Wildlife Area

Nature preserve
178 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

DD Kennedy County Park

Managed by Polk County
88 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it

250 conserved acres

1% of Garfield’s land. Water is left out: Garfield has 32.8 square miles of land and 2.3 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Garfield’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

State natural resources250 ac
Bureau of Land Management1 ac
State Recreation Area · 173 acState Park · 77 acNational Public Lands · 1 ac
The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Balsam Branch Wildlife Area
State Recreation Area
State natural resources171Open
Stower Seven Lakes State Trail
State Park
State natural resources77Open
Statewide Public Access - Nw
State Recreation Area
State natural resources1Open
Statewide Public Access
State Recreation Area
State natural resources1Open
Northeastern States District Office
National Public Lands
Bureau of Land Management1Open
Things to do

4 places to go in Garfield

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Boat launches in Garfield

3 boat launches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.

Trails & water

1 named trail and 14 lakes & rivers

Named trails
Open to bikes · 6.1 miUnpaved · 0.5 mi
Stower Seven Lakes State Trail6.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Badger LakeBalsam BranchBasswood LakelakeBear LakeBig Horseshoe LakeDuck LakepondGoose LakelakeHorseshoe LakelakeJoe LakelakeLittle Horseshoe LakeMud LakelakeOx LakelakePine LakelakeWapogasset Lakereservoir
Biking & sports

0.0 miles of bike routes

Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.

Stower Seven Lakes State TrailBike route
6.1 mi
Courts & fields
1Baseball
1Tennis

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

When to get out

The walking year in Garfield

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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.110.311.813.414.915.615.314.112.510.89.48.7
High (°F)222840556877817970574027
Rain (in)0.91.01.62.84.14.64.54.23.53.01.81.2

January is the driest month (0.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 4.6 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Garfield →

Next door

Garfield and its neighbors

Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Osceola8.6 miLincoln8.3 miGarfield7.0 miAlden1.1 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Garfield1%0.219825%C+
Osceola— not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Alden4%under 0.19919%C+
Lincoln1%0.27138%C+

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in Garfield

How much of Garfield is conserved land?

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 Garfield’s trails?

Garfield Recreation Area and Balsam Branch Wildlife Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Is there public land near Garfield?

10,658 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Garfield or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 338 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does Garfield have?

Ahead of 44% 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 Garfield neighbors.

Town Square →
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 →