Douglas County Forest
Nature preserve
66,725 acres32.8 mi of trail
OHMWanek TrailGray Ghost TrailSnow Mobile Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
AOutdoors
Outdoors in Summit
More than half of Summit’s land is conserved: 69%
69% of Summit’s land is conserved, about 64,647 acres. 64,944 acres are parks and preserves, 72,401 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Douglas County Forest (32.8 mi).
Ahead of 90% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
69%
64,647 acres · of 147.3 sq mi of land
Trails
39 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
64,944 ac
72,401 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
73%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
10
What kind of outdoors town is Summit?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Summit have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Summit is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Summit’s overall grade.
Conserved land69% of the land · typical WI town 4% · U.S. 4%A+Trails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (39 mi) · WI 0.4 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land72,401 acres of park per 1,000 residents (64,944 acres) · WI 31 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home73% 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 90%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− 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 Douglas County Forest, with 32.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Superior School District School Forest
Nature preserve
409 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Nemadji State Forest
Managed by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
4 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
64,647 conserved acres
69% of Summit’s land. Who manages Summit’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County64,419 ac
State natural resources277 ac
Local Conservation Area · 64,419 acState Park · 150 acUnknown · 82 acState Conservation Area · 23 acState Resource Management Area · 22 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Douglas County Forest Local Conservation Area | County | 64,419 | Open |
| Gandy Dancer State Trail State Park | State natural resources | 150 | Open |
| Gift Lands Unknown | State natural resources | 82 | Open |
| State Owned Islands State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 23 | Open |
| State Owned Islands - Douglas County - Amnicon Lake - Tomahawk Island State Resource Management Area | State natural resources | 21 | Open |
| State Owned Islands - Douglas County - Amnicon Lake - Little Island State Resource Management Area | State natural resources | 1 | Open |
Trails & water
8 named trails and 10 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 0.6 mi
Snow Mobile Trail7.6 mi
OHM5.2 mi
Wanek Trail3.0 mi
Gray Ghost Trail2.4 mi
Nanuuq Trail1.9 mi
Raspberry Trail1.8 mi
Pack Trail0.6 mi
Bearhunter Trail0.6 mi
When to get out
September is the best month for walking in Summit
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) | 9.0 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 15.0 | 15.8 | 15.5 | 14.2 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.3 | 8.6 |
| High (°F) | 20 | 25 | 38 | 51 | 65 | 73 | 79 | 76 | 68 | 53 | 37 | 24 |
| Rain (in) | 0.9 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 2.7 | 3.6 | 4.4 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 3.4 | 3.2 | 1.8 | 1.3 |
January is the driest month (0.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 79 °F). 4.4 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Summit →
Next door
Summit and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Nickerson Township81 miGordon72 miDairyland50 miSummit39 miHolyoke Township36 miSuperior30 miOakland13 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summit | 69% | 0.3 | 72,401 | 73% | A |
| Superior | 29% | 0.3 | 9,148 | 64% | A |
| Gordon | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Oakland | 31% | 0.2 | 10,601 | 20% | B+ |
| Dairyland | — 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 Summit
Where can I hike in Summit?
The longest trail networks: Douglas County Forest, 32.8 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Summit is conserved land?
69% 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 Summit’s trails?
Douglas County Forest and Superior School District School Forest don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Summit?
303,934 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Summit or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 65,035 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Summit have?
Ahead of 90% 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 Summit 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 →