Kettle Moraine State Forest - Southern Unit
Managed by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
4,876 acres58.7 mi of trail
Blue TrailIce Age TrailMoraine Ridge TrailSquirrel Loop+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailheadWebsite ↗
C−Outdoors
Outdoors in La Grange
La Grange has 65 miles of mapped trails, 1.9 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: Kettle Moraine State Forest - Southern Unit (58.7 mi), Bluff Creek State Natural Area (1 mi).
Ahead of 20% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
102 acres · of 34.3 sq mi of land
Trails
65 mi
1.9 per sq mi of land
Near a park
under 1%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
5
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is La Grange?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does La Grange have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, La Grange is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns. Trail miles hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of La Grange’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical WI town 4% · U.S. 4%C−Trails1.9 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (65 mi) · WI 0.4 · U.S. 0.4APark land0.0 acres of park per 1,000 residents (0 acres) · WI 31 · U.S. 13DParks close to home0% 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 20%
LessMore
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in La Grange. 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 C+. 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 Kettle Moraine State Forest - Southern Unit, with 58.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Bluff Creek State Natural Area
Managed by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
92 acres1 mi of trail
Moraine Ridge TrailIce Age Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Young Prairie State Natural Area
Managed by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
99 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Kettle Moraine Oak Opening State Natural Area
Managed by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
7 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
102 conserved acres
under 1% of La Grange’s land. Who manages La Grange’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources72 ac
Private owners30 ac
State Resource Management Area · 99 acRecreation or Education Easement · 3 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kettle Moraine State Forest-Southern Unit 24 State Resource Management Area | State natural resources | 68 | Open |
| Kettle Moraine State Forest-Southern Unit State Resource Management Area | Private owners | 30 | Open |
Things to do
3 places to go in La Grange
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in La Grange
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in La Grange
1 boat launch without a name on the map.
Campgrounds in La Grange
KMSF-SU Shelter 3In Kettle Moraine State Forest - Southern Unit
DirectionsTrails & water
25 named trails and 5 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 21.5 miHorses · 9.5 miUnpaved · 50.7 mi
Blue Trail9.0 mi
Ice Age Trail7.4 mi
Moraine Ridge Trail6.0 mi
Connector Trail3.9 mi
Squirrel Loop3.0 mi
Green Trail1.4 mi
Richards Revenge1.0 mi
Lime Kiln Trail0.9 mi
Gnome Loop0.8 mi
White Trail0.7 mi
15 more trails
Orange Trail
0.5 miSwitchback Mountain
0.5 miFinger Loop
0.5 miDerailer
0.5 miLaGrange Point
0.4 miRed Trail
0.4 miKissing Meadow
0.4 miFlyers Trail
0.4 miPurple Trail
0.4 miRythm Section
0.4 miThe Gauntlet
0.4 miSledge Hammer
0.4 miSandy Bottoms
0.3 miRecovery Zone
0.3 miBermuda
0.3 miLakes & rivers tap for directions
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.
Blue LoopBike route
11.9 miGreen LoopBike route
8.1 miPurple LoopBike route
5.3 miCourts & fields
4Tennis
3Pickleball
1Basketball
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 La Grange
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) | 9.4 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 28 | 32 | 44 | 57 | 69 | 79 | 82 | 80 | 73 | 60 | 45 | 33 |
| Rain (in) | 1.7 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 5.0 | 3.9 | 4.0 | 3.6 | 2.9 | 2.3 | 1.9 |
February is the driest month (1.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 5.0 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in La Grange →
Next door
La Grange and its neighbors
La Grange has the most mapped trails of the 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Grange | under 1% | 1.9 | under 1 | under 1% | C− |
| Troy | 15% | 0.5 | 618 | 51% | A− |
| Sugar Creek | 7% | 0.3 | under 1 | under 1% | C− |
| Palmyra | 5% | 1.3 | 111 | 13% | B+ |
| Whitewater | 4% | 0.4 | 87 | 9% | B− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in La Grange
Where can I hike in La Grange?
The longest trail networks: Kettle Moraine State Forest - Southern Unit, 58.7 miles; Bluff Creek State Natural Area, 1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of La Grange 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 La Grange’s trails?
Kettle Moraine State Forest - Southern Unit and Bluff Creek State Natural Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near La Grange?
31,172 acres of parks and open public land lie inside La Grange or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 4,990 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does La Grange have?
Ahead of 20% 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 La Grange 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 →