Forest County Forest
Nature preserve
11,789 acres27.4 mi of trail
Shawano - Crandon LineKahquados Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
A+Outdoors
Outdoors in Lincoln
Lincoln has 12,269 acres of parks, 9,541 for every 1,000 residents
34% of Lincoln’s land is conserved, about 12,492 acres. 68 miles of mapped trail cross Lincoln, 1.2 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Forest County Forest (27.4 mi).
Ahead of 97% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
34%
12,492 acres · of 58.2 sq mi of land
Trails
68 mi
1.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
12,269 ac
9,541 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
77%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
1,913 ft
Sugarbush Hill
Lakes & rivers
14
What kind of outdoors town is Lincoln?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Lincoln have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Lincoln is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; park acres per resident rank highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.
A+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Lincoln’s overall grade.
Conserved land34% of the land · typical WI town 4% · U.S. 4%A+Trails1.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (68 mi) · WI 0.4 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land9,541 acres of park per 1,000 residents (12,269 acres) · WI 31 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home77% 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 97%
LessMore
Water is 8% of Lincoln’s area (5 of 63 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 31%.
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 Forest County Forest, with 27.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Crandon Ribbed Fen State Natural Area
Nature preserve
95 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Veteran's Memorial County Park
Park
62 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
12,492 conserved acres
34% of Lincoln’s land. Water is left out: Lincoln has 58.2 square miles of land and 4.8 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Lincoln’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County11,404 ac
State natural resources1,733 ac
U.S. Forest Service6 ac
Local Conservation Area · 11,404 acState Recreation Area · 715 acState Resource Management Area · 464 acState Conservation Area · 232 acForest Stewardship Easement · 196 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 194 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forest County Forest Local Conservation Area | County | 11,404 | Open |
| Scattered Forest Lands State Resource Management Area | State natural resources | 462 | Open |
| Scattered Forest Land - Nw State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 462 | Open |
| Wolf River State Trail State Park | State natural resources | 171 | Open |
| Lup Grants State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 157 | Open |
| Statewide Natural Area State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 97 | Open |
| Crandon Ribbed Fen State Natural Area State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 97 | Restricted |
| Statewide Spring Ponds State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 36 | Open |
| Statewide Spring Ponds - Nw State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 36 | Open |
| Statewide Public Access State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 8 | Open |
4 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
2 places to go in Lincoln
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Peaks in Lincoln
Sugarbush Hill1,913 ft elevation
DirectionsCampgrounds in Lincoln
1 campground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
4 named trails and 14 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 10.6 miHorses · 10.6 miUnpaved · 11.4 mi
Shawano - Crandon Line7.2 mi
Pembine subdivision3.5 mi
Kahquados Trail0.8 mi
Jeep Trail0.7 mi
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.
Wolf River State TrailBike route
10.6 miCourts & fields
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Otter Spring HouseBuilding · listed 1999
About itWhen to get out
August is the best month for walking in Lincoln
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) | 9.1 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 14.9 | 15.7 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.4 | 8.7 |
| High (°F) | 21 | 26 | 38 | 51 | 65 | 73 | 77 | 75 | 67 | 53 | 38 | 26 |
| Rain (in) | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.8 | 2.9 | 3.7 | 4.4 | 4.1 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 3.4 | 2.0 | 1.6 |
February is the driest month (1.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 77 °F). 4.4 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Lincoln →
Next door
Lincoln and its neighbors
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln | 34% | 1.2 | 9,541 | 77% | A+ |
| Nashville | 3% | 1.2 | 287 | 11% | B+ |
| Laona | 65% | 1.1 | 155 | 55% | A |
| Crandon | 1% | 0.8 | 77 | 86% | B+ |
| Crandon | — 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 Lincoln
Where can I hike in Lincoln?
The longest trail networks: Forest County Forest, 27.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Lincoln is conserved land?
34% 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 Lincoln’s trails?
Forest County Forest and Crandon Ribbed Fen State Natural Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Lincoln?
134,334 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Lincoln or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 12,277 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Lincoln have?
Ahead of 97% 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 Lincoln 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 →