City Park
Park
7 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Princeton Downtown Historic District · Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Princeton
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Princeton
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 2% of Princeton’s land is conserved, about 17 acres. 16 acres are parks and preserves, 14 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 46% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
17 acres · of 1.6 sq mi of land
Trails
0.0 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
16 ac
14 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Princeton?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Princeton have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Princeton is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Princeton’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical WI town 4% · U.S. 4%C+Trails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · WI 0.4 · U.S. 0.4DPark land14 acres of park per 1,000 residents (16 acres) · WI 31 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · WI 90% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 46%
LessMore
Water is 6% of Princeton’s area (0 of 2 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 2%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. 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.
Heistand Park
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
17 conserved acres
2% of Princeton’s land. Water is left out: Princeton has 1.6 square miles of land and 0.1 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Princeton’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources20 ac
Town or city6 ac
State Recreation Area · 11 acState Conservation Area · 9 acLocal Park · 6 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statewide Habitat Areas - Lm State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 11 | Open |
| Statewide Habitat Areas State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 9 | Restricted |
| Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
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
2Baseball
2Tennis
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Princeton Downtown Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1997
About itWhen to get out
September is the best month for walking in Princeton
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 | 14.7 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 26 | 31 | 43 | 56 | 69 | 78 | 82 | 80 | 73 | 59 | 44 | 32 |
| Rain (in) | 1.3 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 3.3 | 4.1 | 4.8 | 4.0 | 3.9 | 3.1 | 2.9 | 2.0 | 1.6 |
February is the driest month (1.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 4.8 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Princeton →
Next door
Princeton and its neighbors
Princeton has the second most mapped trails of the 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Princeton | 2% | under 0.1 | 14 | 99%+ | B− |
| St. Marie | — 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 Princeton
How much of Princeton is conserved land?
2% 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 Princeton’s trails?
City Park and Heistand Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Princeton?
18,972 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Princeton or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 16 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Princeton have?
Ahead of 46% 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 Princeton 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 →