Sand Creek Streambank Protection Area
Nature preserve
626 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
BOutdoors
Outdoors in Little Falls
Little Falls has 2,020 acres of parks, 1,222 for every 1,000 residents
40% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 4.8 miles of mapped trail cross Little Falls, 0.1 per square mile of land. 5% of Little Falls’ land is conserved, about 2,015 acres.
Ahead of 56% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
2,015 acres · of 68.5 sq mi of land
Trails
4.8 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
2,020 ac
1,222 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
40%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Little Falls?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Little Falls have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Little Falls is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Little Falls’ overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical WI town 4% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (5 mi) · WI 0.4 · U.S. 0.4CPark land1,222 acres of park per 1,000 residents (2,020 acres) · WI 31 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home40% 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 56%
LessMore
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.
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.
Big Creek State Fishery Area
Nature preserve
156 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
2,015 conserved acres
5% of Little Falls’ land. Who manages Little Falls’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources2,486 ac
County189 ac
Private owners4 ac
Bureau of Land Management1 ac
State Recreation Area · 1,845 acState Conservation Area · 641 acLocal Conservation Area · 189 acRecreation or Education Easement · 4 acNational Public Lands · 1 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big Creek Fishery Area State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 1,179 | Open |
| Sand Creek Streambank Protection Area State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 641 | Open |
| Stream Bank Protection Fee Program State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 641 | Open |
| Monroe County Forest Local Conservation Area | County | 189 | Open |
| Big Creek Fishery Area 1 State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 21 | Open |
| Cataract Pond Public Access State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 4 | Restricted |
| Northeastern States District Office National Public Lands | Bureau of Land Management | 1 | Open |
Things to do
5 places to go in Little Falls
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Little Falls
5 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & 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.
Courts & fields
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The walking year in Little Falls
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) | 9.2 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 24 | 30 | 42 | 57 | 69 | 78 | 82 | 80 | 72 | 58 | 42 | 30 |
| Rain (in) | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.8 | 3.6 | 4.4 | 5.2 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 3.8 | 2.8 | 1.9 | 1.4 |
February is the driest month (1.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 5.2 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Little Falls →
Next door
Little Falls and its neighbors
Little Falls has the second 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Little Falls | 5% | 0.1 | 1,222 | 40% | B |
| Melrose | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| New Lyme | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Sparta | under 1% | 0.1 | 46 | 28% | C |
| Irving | — 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 Little Falls
How much of Little Falls is conserved land?
5% 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 Little Falls’ trails?
Sand Creek Streambank Protection Area and Big Creek State Fishery Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Little Falls?
55,534 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Little Falls or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 2,022 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Little Falls have?
Ahead of 56% 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 Little Falls 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 →