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B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Three Lakes

Three Lakes has 3,253 acres of parks, 1,405 for every 1,000 residents

26% of Three Lakes’ land is conserved, about 13,579 acres. 9.6 miles of mapped trail cross Three Lakes, 0.1 per square mile of land. 26% of residents live within a half mile of a park.

Ahead of 69% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Conserved land
26%
13,579 acres · of 80.3 sq mi of land
Trails
9.6 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
3,253 ac
1,405 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
26%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
7.1 mi
7.1 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
43
1 beach

What kind of outdoors town is Three Lakes?

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

Room to roam1,405 acres of park per 1,000 residents; the typical U.S. town has 13.Land that stays wild26% of the land is conserved; a typical Wisconsin town, 4%.History along the way7 places on the National Register.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Three Lakes have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Three Lakes is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.

B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Three Lakes’ overall grade.
Conserved land26% of the land · typical WI town 4% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (10 mi) · WI 0.4 · U.S. 0.4CPark land1,405 acres of park per 1,000 residents (3,253 acres) · WI 31 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home26% 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 69%
LessMore

Water is 20% of Three Lakes’ area (20 of 100 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 21%.

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.

Thunder Lake Wildlife Area

Managed by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
3,202 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗

Rice Lake State Natural Area

Managed by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
1,115 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗

Tara Lila LLC Sundstein Road Unit

Nature preserve
565 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

Rice Lake Refuge

Managed by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
272 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 10 parks & preserves
Thunder Lake Wildlife Area3,202 acres · Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Rice Lake State Natural Area1,115 acres · Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Tara Lila LLC Sundstein Road Unit565 acres
Rice Lake Refuge272 acres · Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Thunder Lake Wildlife Conservation Area83 acres
Don Burnside Park37 acres
Directions
Cy Williams Park4 acres · Town of Three Lakes
Directions
Vilas County Forest3 acres · Vilas County Forestry
Phyllis B Felland Memorial Water Ski Park1 acres
Village Skate1 acres
Directions
Who protects it

13,579 conserved acres

26% of Three Lakes’ land. Water is left out: Three Lakes has 80.3 square miles of land and 19.8 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Three Lakes’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

U.S. Forest Service9,740 ac
State natural resources4,397 ac
Private owners50 ac
National Forest · 9,740 acState Recreation Area · 3,490 acState Conservation Area · 900 acPrivate Park · 50 acState Resource Management Area · 7 ac
The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Nicolet National Forest
National Forest
U.S. Forest Service9,740Open
Thunder Lake Wildlife Area
State Recreation Area
State natural resources3,183Open
Statewide Natural Area
State Conservation Area
State natural resources299Open
Statewide Habitat Areas
State Conservation Area
State natural resources296Restricted
Statewide Habitat Areas - Nw
State Recreation Area
State natural resources296Open
One Stone Lake Hemlocks/Little Rice Lake Sna
State Conservation Area
State natural resources260Restricted
Big Stone Golf and Country Club
Private Park
Private owners50Open
Spur Lake Natural Area
State Conservation Area
State natural resources39Restricted
State Owned Islands
State Conservation Area
State natural resources7Open
State Owned Islands - Nw
State Resource Management Area
State natural resources7Open

2 smaller protected places aren’t shown.

Things to do

4 places to go in Three Lakes

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

Campgrounds in Three Lakes
HoneyRockWheaton College
Directions
Laurel Lake Recreation AreaFee
Directions
Trails & water

2 named trails and 43 lakes & rivers

Named trails
Unpaved · 3.1 mi
Sam Campbell Memorial Trail1.7 mi
Vanishing Lake Trail0.5 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Bass LakelakeBig Fork LakelakeBig LakelakeBig Stone LakelakeBriard LakelakeBurnt Rollways Reservoir 129reservoirClearwater LakelakeCoca-Cola LakelakeCook LakelakeCrooked LakelakeDeer LakelakeDog LakelakeElm LakelakeFourmile LakelakeGreen Bass LakelakeHutchinson LakelakeIsland LakelakeJames LakelakeLaurel LakelakeLittle Fork LakelakeLittle Moccasin LakelakeLone Stone LakeLong LakelakeMaple LakereservoirMedicine LakelakeMoccasin LakelakeMud LakelakeOne Stone LakelakePerch LakelakePlanting Ground LakelakeRange Line LakelakeRice LakelakeRound LakelakeSevenmile LakelakeSpirit LakelakeSpring LakelakeSquash LakelakeThoroughfareThunder LakelakeTown Line LakelakeVirgin LakelakeWhitefish LakelakeEagle River
Biking & sports

7.1 miles of bike routes

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

7.1 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
5Tennis
3Baseball
1Basketball
1Football

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

History along the way

7 places on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.

History →
JollywoodBuilding · listed 2003
About it
Indianapolis Outing ClubBuilding · listed 2004
About it
Reay BoathouseBuilding · listed 2004
About it
Miller, Marshall D., BoathouseBuilding · listed 2008
About it
Trunck, Joseph and Augusta, BoathouseBuilding · listed 2008
About it
Mayer, George P., BoathouseBuilding · listed 2011
About it
Three Lakes Rod and Gun ClubDistrict · listed 2013
About it
When to get out

The best walking months in Three Lakes: May and August

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)9.010.311.813.514.915.715.414.112.510.89.48.7
High (°F)212738516574777567533826
Rain (in)1.21.11.72.93.64.34.13.53.73.52.01.6

February is the driest month (1.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 77 °F). 4.3 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Three Lakes →

Next door

Three Lakes and its neighbors

Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Hiles98 miSugar Camp42 miPiehl14 miWashington12 miStella12 miThree Lakes9.6 miLincoln4.9 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Three Lakes26%0.11,40526%B+
Sugar Camp23%0.563413%A−
Hiles— not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Washington36%0.313416%B+
Piehl— not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Lincoln3%0.232529%B−
Stella— 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 Three Lakes

How much of Three Lakes is conserved land?

26% 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 Three Lakes’ trails?

Thunder Lake Wildlife Area and Rice Lake State Natural Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Where can I bike in Three Lakes?

7.1 miles of bike routes are on the map: 7.1 of off-road paths.

Is there public land near Three Lakes?

152,458 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Three Lakes or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 13,065 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does Three Lakes have?

Ahead of 69% 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 Three Lakes 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 →