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Old Indian Agency House (Boundary Increase)Old Indian Agency House (Boundary Increase) · Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0
A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Portage

Portage has 576 acres of parks, 56 for every 1,000 residents

11% of Portage’s land is conserved, about 651 acres. 90% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 1.9 miles of mapped trail cross Portage, 0.2 per square mile of land.

Ahead of 80% of U.S. towns · #106 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it

Conserved land
11%
651 acres · of 8.9 sq mi of land
Trails
1.9 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
576 ac
56 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
90%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
4.0 mi
3.0 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
4
2 beaches · 2 boat launches

What kind of outdoors town is Portage?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Land that stays wild11% of the land is conserved; a typical Wisconsin town, 4%.Parks close to home90% of residents live within a half mile of a park.History along the way8 places on the National Register.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Portage have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Portage is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns, #106 of 362 in Wisconsin. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.

A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Portage’s overall grade.
Conserved land11% of the land · typical WI town 4% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · WI 0.4 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land56 acres of park per 1,000 residents (576 acres) · WI 31 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home90% of residents within a half mile of a park · WI 90% · U.S. 72%B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 80%
LessMore
Wisconsin towns of 2,500+ (362)Ahead of 71%

Water is 8% of Portage’s area (1 of 10 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 10%.

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.

1234
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.

Historic Indian Agency House

Managed by National Society of Colonial Dames of America
129 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗

Pine Island State Wildlife Area

Managed by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
115 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

Veterans Memorial Fields

Park
51 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

Collipp-Worden Park

Park
16 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 11 parks & preserves
Historic Indian Agency House129 acres · National Society of Colonial Dames of America
Directions
Pine Island State Wildlife Area115 acres · Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Veterans Memorial Fields51 acres
Collipp-Worden Park16 acres
Directions
Paquette Park12 acres
Directions
Sunrise Park5 acres
Hamilton Street Park5 acres
Sunset Park5 acres
Silver Lake Beach3 acres
Goodyear Park2 acres
Sanborn Park2 acres
Who protects it

651 conserved acres

11% of Portage’s land. Water is left out: Portage has 8.9 square miles of land and 0.8 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Portage’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

Bureau of Land Management242 ac
State natural resources197 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits116 ac
Town or city99 ac
National Public Lands · 242 acState Recreation Area · 197 acConservation Easement · 116 acLocal Park · 92 acLocal Recreation Area · 7 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 115 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Northeastern States District Office
National Public Lands
Bureau of Land Management242Open
Pine Island Wildlife Area
State Recreation Area
State natural resources143Open
Upper Fox River Public Access
State Recreation Area
State natural resources51Open
Veterans Memorial Park
Local Park
Town or city39Open
Collipp-Worden Park
Local Park
Town or city17Open
Pauquette Park
Local Park
Town or city9Open
Bruce Smith Little League Complex
Local Recreation Area
Town or city7Open
Woodridge Park
Local Park
Town or city6Open
Hamilton Street Park
Local Park
Town or city5Open
Sunset Park
Local Park
Town or city5Open

5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.

Things to do

7 places to go in Portage

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Beaches in Portage
Silver Lake BeachIn Silver Lake Beach
Directions

Plus 1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.

Trails & water

4 lakes & rivers

Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Bridal PondpondMud LakelakeSilver LakelakeWisconsin River
Biking & sports

4.0 miles of bike routes

Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.

3.0 mi
off-road bike paths
1.0 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
12Tennis
4Baseball
2Basketball
2Football
1Skate park
1Soccer

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

8 places on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 3 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.

History →
Old Indian Agency HouseBuilding · listed 1972
About it
Portage CanalSite · listed 1977
About it
Zona Gale HouseBuilding · listed 1980
About it
Society Hill Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1992
About it
Henry Merrell HouseBuilding · listed 1993
About it
Portage Industrial Waterfront Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1995
About it
Portage Retail Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1995
About it
Church Hill Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1997
About it
When to get out

September is the best month for walking in Portage

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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.310.411.813.414.715.415.114.012.410.99.69.0
High (°F)273244577079838173604532
Rain (in)1.31.32.13.74.25.14.14.13.52.82.11.6

February is the driest month (1.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 5.1 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Portage →

Next door

Portage and its neighbors

Portage has the second most mapped trails of the 5 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Lewiston3.2 miPortage1.9 miPacific1.7 miCaledonia0.4 miFort Winnebago0.0 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Portage11%0.25690%A−
Fort Winnebago— not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Pacific20%0.191060%B+
Lewiston5%0.127112%B−
Caledonia18%under 0.12,63416%B

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in Portage

How much of Portage is conserved land?

11% 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 Portage’s trails?

Historic Indian Agency House and Pine Island State Wildlife Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Where can I bike in Portage?

4.0 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.0 of off-road paths and 1.0 of shoulders and shared lanes.

Is there public land near Portage?

16,865 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Portage or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 821 of them inside the city line.

How much outdoors does Portage have?

Ahead of 80% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #106 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 Portage neighbors.

Town Square →
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 →