Lincoln County Forest
Managed by Lincoln County
1,588 acres3.4 mi of trail
Connector/DisconnectorOktoberfest
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Merrill
Merrill has 2,768 acres of parks, 963 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Lincoln County Forest (3.4 mi), Prairie Trails Park (2 mi). 8% of Merrill’s land is conserved, about 2,626 acres. 5.9 miles of mapped trail cross Merrill, 0.1 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 63% of U.S. towns · #222 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it
Conserved land
8%
2,626 acres · of 51.7 sq mi of land
Trails
5.9 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
2,768 ac
963 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
37%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
11
What kind of outdoors town is Merrill?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Merrill have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Merrill is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns, #222 of 362 in Wisconsin. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Merrill’s overall grade.
Conserved land8% of the land · typical WI town 4% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (6 mi) · WI 0.4 · U.S. 0.4CPark land963 acres of park per 1,000 residents (2,768 acres) · WI 31 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home37% 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 63%
LessMore
Wisconsin towns of 2,500+ (362)Ahead of 39%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ 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 Lincoln County Forest, with 3.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Prairie Trails Park
Managed by City of Merrill
89 acres2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Council Grounds State Park
Managed by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
393 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Prairie River State Fishery Area
Managed by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
143 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Who protects it
2,626 conserved acres
8% of Merrill’s land. Who manages Merrill’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County1,658 ac
State natural resources1,131 ac
Private owners18 ac
Bureau of Land Management2 ac
Local Conservation Area · 1,658 acState Recreation Area · 593 acState Park · 392 acState Conservation Area · 136 acUnknown Easement · 15 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln County Forest - Public Fishing Grounds Local Conservation Area | County | 1,658 | Open |
| Council Grounds State Park State Park | State natural resources | 392 | Open |
| Spring Lake Fishery Area State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 277 | Open |
| Statewide Habitat Areas State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 149 | Restricted |
| Statewide Habitat Areas - Nw State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 96 | Open |
| Statewide Public Access - Nw State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 81 | Open |
| Statewide Public Access State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 81 | Open |
| Prairie River Fishery Area State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 58 | Open |
| Northeastern States District Office National Public Lands | Bureau of Land Management | 2 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Merrill
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Campgrounds in Merrill
Family CampgroundIn Council Grounds State Park · Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
DirectionsGroup CampgroundIn Council Grounds State Park · Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail and 11 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 3.4 miUnpaved · 5.5 mi
Connector/Disconnector3.3 mi
When to get out
The walking year in Merrill
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 | 13.4 | 14.9 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.9 | 9.4 | 8.8 |
| High (°F) | 22 | 27 | 39 | 53 | 67 | 76 | 80 | 77 | 69 | 55 | 40 | 27 |
| Rain (in) | 1.2 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 2.8 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 3.8 | 3.7 | 3.8 | 3.1 | 1.9 | 1.4 |
February is the driest month (1.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 4.7 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Merrill →
Next door
Merrill 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merrill | 8% | 0.1 | 963 | 37% | B |
| Harding | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Rock Falls | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Schley | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Pine River | under 1% | under 0.1 | 4 | 7% | D |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Merrill
Where can I hike in Merrill?
The longest trail networks: Lincoln County Forest, 3.4 miles; Prairie Trails Park, 2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Merrill is conserved land?
8% 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 Merrill’s trails?
Lincoln County Forest and Prairie Trails Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Merrill?
56,782 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Merrill or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 2,769 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Merrill have?
Ahead of 63% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #222 of 362 in Wisconsin. 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 Merrill 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 →