Little Plover River Fishery Area
Park
246 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Plover
Plover has 709 acres of parks, 545 for every 1,000 residents
7% of Plover’s land is conserved, about 1,723 acres. 5.5 miles of mapped trail cross Plover, 0.1 per square mile of land. 47% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 65% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
7%
1,723 acres · of 38.9 sq mi of land
Trails
5.5 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
709 ac
545 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
47%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.5 mi
0.5 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Plover?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Plover have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Plover is ahead of 65% 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 Plover’s overall grade.
Conserved land7% 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. 0.4C+Park land545 acres of park per 1,000 residents (709 acres) · WI 31 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home47% 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 65%
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 Little Plover River Fishery Area, with 0.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Pacawa Park
Park
8 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Buena Vista Wildlife Area
Managed by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
392 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Boston School Forest
Nature preserve
40 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 6 parks & preserves
Little Plover River Fishery Area246 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
Pacawa Park8 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Buena Vista Wildlife Area392 acres · Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Boston School Forest40 acres
Galecke Park33 acres
DirectionsBluebird Park6 acres
Who protects it
1,723 conserved acres
7% of Plover’s land. Who manages Plover’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
USDA easements (NRCS)917 ac
State natural resources629 ac
Town or city144 ac
County31 ac
Bureau of Land Management2 ac
Conservation Easement · 917 acState Recreation Area · 626 acLocal Conservation Area · 139 acLocal Park · 35 acState Park · 3 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 917 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 12 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buena Vista Wildlife Area State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 383 | Open |
| Little Plover River Fishery Area State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 243 | Open |
| Little Plover River Conservancy Area Local Conservation Area | Town or city | 139 | Unknown |
| Gelecke Park Local Park | County | 31 | Open |
| Pacawa Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Tomorrow River State Trail State Park | State natural resources | 3 | Open |
| Northeastern States District Office National Public Lands | Bureau of Land Management | 2 | Open |
| Oakwood Forest Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Plover
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Plover
Dairy
DirectionsBoat launches in Plover
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
1 named trail and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Tomorrow River State Trail0.2 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.5 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.5 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
1Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The walking year in Plover
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 | 14.8 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 24 | 29 | 41 | 55 | 68 | 77 | 81 | 79 | 71 | 58 | 42 | 30 |
| Rain (in) | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.8 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 4.8 | 3.8 | 4.0 | 3.6 | 2.8 | 1.9 | 1.5 |
February is the driest month (1.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 4.8 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Plover →
Next door
Plover 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plover | 7% | 0.1 | 545 | 47% | B+ |
| Linwood | under 1% | 0.1 | 17 | 5% | C− |
| Stevens Point | 8% | 2.5 | 44 | 99% | A+ |
| Grant | 11% | under 0.1 | 2,197 | 16% | B− |
| Buena Vista | 7% | under 0.1 | 1,947 | 7% | B− |
| Stockton | under 1% | 0.4 | 270 | 17% | B− |
| Whiting | 14% | 5.4 | 162 | 99%+ | A+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Plover
Where can I hike in Plover?
The longest trail networks: Little Plover River Fishery Area, 0.4 miles; Pacawa Park, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Plover is conserved land?
7% 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 Plover’s trails?
Little Plover River Fishery Area and Pacawa Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Plover?
0.5 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.5 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Plover?
19,920 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Plover or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 710 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Plover have?
Ahead of 65% 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 Plover 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 →