Marathon County Forest-Ringle Marsh Unit
Nature preserve
1,803 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Ringle
Ringle has 3,060 acres of parks, 2,116 for every 1,000 residents
11% of Ringle’s land is conserved, about 3,023 acres. 26 miles of mapped trail cross Ringle, 0.6 per square mile of land. 53% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 85% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
11%
3,023 acres · of 42.1 sq mi of land
Trails
26 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
3,060 ac
2,116 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
53%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Ringle?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Ringle have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Ringle is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Ringle’s overall grade.
Conserved land11% of the land · typical WI town 4% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (26 mi) · WI 0.4 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land2,116 acres of park per 1,000 residents (3,060 acres) · WI 31 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home53% 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 85%
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
3,023 conserved acres
11% of Ringle’s land. Who manages Ringle’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources2,292 ac
County1,791 ac
Town or city19 ac
Local Conservation Area · 1,791 acState Recreation Area · 1,097 acState Park · 984 acState Conservation Area · 192 acRecreation or Education Easement · 19 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marathon County Forest Local Conservation Area | County | 1,791 | Open |
| Ice Age Trail State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 905 | Closed |
| Ice Age Trail - Wd State Park | State natural resources | 893 | Open |
| Statewide Spring Ponds State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 192 | Open |
| Statewide Spring Ponds - Wd State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 192 | Open |
| Mountain-Bay State Trail State Park | State natural resources | 91 | Open |
| Arrowhead Estates Park Local Park | Town or city | 19 | Open |
Trails & water
15 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 19.8 miUnpaved · 18.3 mi
Mountain-Bay State Trail7.2 mi
Ice Age Trail6.0 mi
Ruby Ridge2.2 mi
Rookery2.1 mi
Rock the Wierzba1.9 mi
Lost 401.6 mi
Snowmobile Trail1.5 mi
Oscar1.1 mi
Brickyard1.1 mi
Velvet Otter0.5 mi
5 more trails
Meatwagon
0.3 miRuby Ridge Climb
0.2 miHunting Season Cutoff
0.2 miRookery Uphill
0.1 miBig Daddy
0.1 miLakes & rivers tap for directions
When to get out
The walking year in Ringle
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) | 9.1 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°F) | 22 | 28 | 39 | 54 | 67 | 76 | 80 | 78 | 70 | 56 | 40 | 28 |
| Rain (in) | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 3.1 | 3.8 | 4.7 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 3.0 | 1.9 | 1.5 |
February is the driest month (1.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 4.7 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Ringle →
Next door
Ringle and its neighbors
Ringle has the most mapped trails of the 7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ringle | 11% | 0.6 | 2,116 | 53% | A− |
| Norrie | under 1% | 0.2 | 61 | 19% | C |
| Reid | 11% | 0.1 | 2,788 | 15% | B |
| Easton | 1% | 0.1 | 243 | 5% | C+ |
| Hatley | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Weston | 2% | 0.3 | 29 | 83% | B |
| Weston | — 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 Ringle
How much of Ringle 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 Ringle’s trails?
Marathon County Forest-Ringle Marsh Unit doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Ringle?
27,234 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Ringle or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 3,060 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Ringle have?
Ahead of 85% 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 Ringle 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 →