Grand River Marsh Wildlife Area
Managed by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
958 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Montello
Montello has 970 acres of parks, 705 for every 1,000 residents
17% of Montello’s land is conserved, about 3,614 acres. 20% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 4.9 miles of mapped trail cross Montello, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 66% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
17%
3,614 acres · of 32.5 sq mi of land
Trails
4.9 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
970 ac
705 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
20%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
10
What kind of outdoors town is Montello?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Montello have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Montello is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Montello’s overall grade.
Conserved land17% of the land · typical WI town 4% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (5 mi) · WI 0.4 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land705 acres of park per 1,000 residents (970 acres) · WI 31 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home20% 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 66%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B− 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
3,614 conserved acres
17% of Montello’s land. Who manages Montello’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
USDA easements (NRCS)2,469 ac
State natural resources1,912 ac
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service355 ac
Conservation Easement · 2,469 acState Recreation Area · 1,109 acState Conservation Area · 802 acResource Management Area · 355 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 2,313 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand River Marsh Wildlife Area State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 1,570 | Open |
| Marquette County Waterfowl Production Area Resource Management Area | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 355 | Restricted |
| Statewide Habitat Areas - Lm State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 144 | Open |
| Statewide Habitat Areas State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 144 | Restricted |
| Upper Fox River Public Access State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 53 | Open |
Trails & water
10 lakes & rivers
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
1Tennis
1Basketball
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 Montello
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) | 9.3 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 27 | 31 | 43 | 57 | 69 | 78 | 82 | 80 | 73 | 60 | 44 | 32 |
| Rain (in) | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.9 | 3.5 | 4.2 | 4.8 | 4.1 | 4.0 | 3.1 | 2.9 | 2.0 | 1.6 |
February is the driest month (1.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 4.8 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Montello →
Next door
Montello 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montello | 17% | 0.2 | 705 | 20% | B+ |
| Packwaukee | 4% | 0.1 | 427 | 34% | B− |
| Buffalo | 15% | 0.1 | 2,226 | 37% | B+ |
| Marquette | — 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 Montello
How much of Montello is conserved land?
17% 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 Montello’s trails?
Grand River Marsh Wildlife Area doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Montello?
20,089 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Montello or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 970 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Montello have?
Ahead of 66% 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 Montello 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 →