Brooklyn State Wildlife Area
Nature preserve
497 acres4.8 mi of trail
Ice Age TrailBlue Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Paoli Mills · Photo: James Steakley · CC BY-SA 3.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Montrose
Montrose has 835 acres of parks, 798 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Brooklyn State Wildlife Area (4.8 mi), Olson Oak Woods State Natural Area (1.3 mi), Friends of School Forest Prairie (0.8 mi). 19 miles of mapped trail cross Montrose, 0.6 per square mile of land. 28% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 68% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
4%
865 acres · of 33.8 sq mi of land
Trails
19 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
835 ac
798 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
28%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
4.1 mi
4.1 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Montrose?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Montrose have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Montrose is ahead of 68% 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 Montrose’s overall grade.
Conserved land4% of the land · typical WI town 4% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (19 mi) · WI 0.4 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land798 acres of park per 1,000 residents (835 acres) · WI 31 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home28% 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 68%
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
The longest trail network is Brooklyn State Wildlife Area, with 4.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Olson Oak Woods State Natural Area
Nature preserve
109 acres1.3 mi of trail
Cliff Edge TrailField Edge TrailFriends Prairie Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Friends of School Forest Prairie
Nature preserve
72 acres0.8 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Sugar River Wildlife Area - Basco Unit
Managed by Dane County Parks
97 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Falk Wells Sugar River Wildlife Area
Nature preserve
214 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 7 parks & preserves
Brooklyn State Wildlife Area497 acres · 4.8 mi of trail
DirectionsOlson Oak Woods State Natural Area109 acres · 1.3 mi of trail
Friends of School Forest Prairie72 acres · 0.8 mi of trail
Sugar River Wildlife Area - Basco Unit97 acres · 0.6 mi of trail · Dane County Parks
DirectionsFalk Wells Sugar River Wildlife Area214 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
DirectionsSugar River Wildlife Area148 acres
Paoli Park2 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
865 conserved acres
4% of Montrose’s land. Who manages Montrose’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources1,024 ac
Private owners1 ac
State Recreation Area · 802 acState Park · 157 acConservation Easement · 31 acUnknown Easement · 20 acRecreation or Education Easement · 14 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 42 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn Wildlife Area State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 576 | Open |
| Ice Age Trail State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 226 | Open |
| Ice Age Trail - Sd State Park | State natural resources | 157 | Open |
Things to do
3 places to go in Montrose
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Scenic views in Montrose
1 scenic view without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Peaks in Montrose
1 peak without a name on the map.
Campgrounds in Montrose
MSCR Campground
DirectionsTrails & water
6 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 2.4 miUnpaved · 10.3 mi
Ice Age Trail5.2 mi
Badger State Trail2.3 mi
Cliff Edge Trail0.5 mi
Field Edge Trail0.3 mi
Friends Prairie Trail0.3 mi
Blue Trail0.2 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
4.1 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
4.1 mi
off-road bike paths
Badger State TrailBike route
2.3 miCourts & fields
1Soccer
1Softball
1Beach volleyball
1Pickleball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →3 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
September is the best month for walking in Montrose
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 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.7 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 27 | 32 | 44 | 58 | 70 | 79 | 82 | 80 | 73 | 60 | 45 | 32 |
| Rain (in) | 1.5 | 1.5 | 2.2 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 5.6 | 4.5 | 4.2 | 3.6 | 2.9 | 2.3 | 1.7 |
January is the driest month (1.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 5.6 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Montrose →
Next door
Montrose and its neighbors
Montrose has the second most mapped trails of the 6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montrose | 4% | 0.6 | 798 | 28% | B+ |
| Belleville | under 1% | 0.7 | 17 | 94% | B |
| Oregon | 12% | 0.3 | 691 | 59% | A− |
| Primrose | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Verona | 5% | 1.0 | 190 | 63% | A− |
| Exeter | 3% | 0.2 | 295 | 32% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Montrose
Where can I hike in Montrose?
The longest trail networks: Brooklyn State Wildlife Area, 4.8 miles; Olson Oak Woods State Natural Area, 1.3 miles; Friends of School Forest Prairie, 0.8 miles; Sugar River Wildlife Area - Basco Unit, 0.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Montrose is conserved land?
4% 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 Montrose’s trails?
Brooklyn State Wildlife Area and Olson Oak Woods State Natural Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Montrose?
4.1 miles of bike routes are on the map: 4.1 of off-road paths. Named routes: Badger State Trail.
Is there public land near Montrose?
17,373 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Montrose or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 835 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Montrose have?
Ahead of 68% 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 Montrose 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 →