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Camp Five FarmsteadCamp Five Farmstead · Photo: Jeff the quiet · CC0
AOutdoors
Outdoors in Laona

More than half of Laona’s land is conserved: 65%

65% of Laona’s land is conserved, about 42,863 acres. 205 acres are parks and preserves, 155 per 1,000 residents. 118 miles of mapped trail cross Laona, 1.1 per square mile of land.

Ahead of 92% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Conserved land
65%
42,863 acres · of 103.4 sq mi of land
Trails
118 mi
1.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
205 ac
155 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
55%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
30

What kind of outdoors town is Laona?

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

Land that stays wild65% of the land is conserved; a typical Wisconsin town, 4%.Room to roam155 acres of park per 1,000 residents; the typical U.S. town has 13.A trail town1.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 83% of U.S. towns.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Laona have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Laona is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.

A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Laona’s overall grade.
Conserved land65% of the land · typical WI town 4% · U.S. 4%A+Trails1.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (118 mi) · WI 0.4 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land155 acres of park per 1,000 residents (205 acres) · WI 31 · U.S. 13AParks close to home55% of residents within a half mile of a park · WI 90% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 92%
LessMore
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.

12
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.

Forest County Forest

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

Peshtigo Preserve

Nature preserve
2 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it

42,863 conserved acres

65% of Laona’s land. Who manages Laona’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

U.S. Forest Service26,404 ac
State natural resources16,513 ac
Private owners92 ac
National Forest · 26,376 acForest Stewardship Easement · 16,303 acState Park · 108 acPrivate Park · 92 acState Recreation Area · 74 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 16,286 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Nicolet National Forest
National Forest
U.S. Forest Service26,376Open
Nicolet State Trail
State Park
State natural resources182Open
Nicolet Golf Course
Private Park
Private owners92Open
State Owned Islands
State Conservation Area
State natural resources14Open
State Owned Islands - Nw
State Resource Management Area
State natural resources14Open
Trails & water

7 named trails and 30 lakes & rivers

Named trails
Open to bikes · 8.0 miUnpaved · 8.6 mi
Nicolet State Trail8.0 mi
Nf Road 21332.8 mi
Connor-Flanner Railroad2.0 mi
Nf Road 23760.8 mi
Nf Road 26130.4 mi
Jeep Trail0.4 mi
Laona and Northern Railroad0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Birch lakelakeBobs LakelakeCamp Three LakelakeDawson LakelakeEd's LakelakeFinnerty LakelakeHardwood LakelakeIndian SpringsJohnson SpringslakeLanger LakelakeLittle Birch LakelakeLittle Pine LakeLittle Popple LakelakeLittle Riley LakeLittle Star LakelakeLudington LakelakeMayflower LakelakeMidget LakelakePiledriver LakelakePopple LakelakePurdy LakelakeRiley LakepondRound LakeScatterd Rice LakereservoirSilver LakelakeWabikon LakelakeWoods LakelakeIndian RiverKokots CreekRat River
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.

Nicolet State TrailBike route
8 mi
Courts & fields
2Baseball
2Tennis
1Football

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

History along the way

2 places on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).

History →
Camp Five FarmsteadBuilding · listed 1996
About it
Connor Lumber and Land Company StoreBuilding · listed 2019
About it
When to get out

August is the best month for walking in Laona

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)9.110.311.813.514.915.715.314.112.510.89.48.7
High (°F)222738516574787667543827
Rain (in)1.21.11.82.83.64.33.93.53.73.32.01.5

February is the driest month (1.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 78 °F). 4.3 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Laona →

Next door

Laona and its neighbors

Laona has the most mapped trails of the 8 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Laona118 miWabeno116 miCaswell85 miBlackwell82 miArgonne69 miLincoln68 miArmstrong Creek31 miFreedom25 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Laona65%1.115555%A
Blackwell— not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Lincoln34%1.29,54177%A+
Caswell— not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Wabeno68%1.132570%A+
Armstrong Creek— not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Freedom— not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Argonne— 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 Laona

How much of Laona is conserved land?

65% 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 Laona’s trails?

Forest County Forest and Peshtigo Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Is there public land near Laona?

220,984 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Laona or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 26,775 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does Laona have?

Ahead of 92% 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 Laona 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 →