Rat River Wildlife Area
Nature preserve
3,034 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Winchester
Winchester has 3,509 acres of parks, 1,997 for every 1,000 residents
16% of Winchester’s land is conserved, about 3,658 acres. 3.1 miles of mapped trail cross Winchester, 0.1 per square mile of land. 52% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 72% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
16%
3,658 acres · of 35.5 sq mi of land
Trails
3.1 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
3,509 ac
1,997 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
52%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
2
What kind of outdoors town is Winchester?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Winchester have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Winchester is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Winchester’s overall grade.
Conserved land16% of the land · typical WI town 4% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (3 mi) · WI 0.4 · U.S. 0.4CPark land1,997 acres of park per 1,000 residents (3,509 acres) · WI 31 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home52% 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 72%
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.
Winchester Meadow State Natural Area
Nature preserve
428 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Sauby Road Managed Land
Nature preserve
70 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
3,658 conserved acres
16% of Winchester’s land. Who manages Winchester’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources3,543 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)115 ac
County70 ac
State Recreation Area · 3,104 acState Resource Management Area · 438 acConservation Easement · 115 acState Conservation Area · 70 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 by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rat River Wildlife Area State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 3,035 | Open |
| Lower Wolf River Bottomlands Natural Resource Area State Resource Management Area | State natural resources | 438 | Open |
| Extensive Wl Habitat - Public Hunting Ground State Conservation Area | County | 70 | Restricted |
| Extensive Wl Habitat - Lm State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 70 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Winchester
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Winchester
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
1 named trail and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Friendship Trail0.2 mi
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
3Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
September is the best month for walking in Winchester
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 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 25 | 30 | 42 | 55 | 68 | 78 | 82 | 80 | 72 | 59 | 44 | 31 |
| Rain (in) | 1.3 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 3.2 | 3.9 | 4.7 | 3.8 | 3.5 | 3.4 | 2.9 | 2.0 | 1.5 |
February is the driest month (1.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 4.7 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Winchester →
Next door
Winchester and its neighbors
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winchester | 16% | 0.1 | 1,997 | 52% | B+ |
| Wolf River | 11% | under 0.1 | 1,839 | 36% | B |
| Clayton | 6% | 0.6 | 324 | 22% | B+ |
| Winneconne | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Dale | 1% | 0.3 | 15 | 18% | C |
| Caledonia | 2% | 0.1 | 221 | under 1% | C+ |
| Vinland | 1% | 0.2 | 5 | 15% | C− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Winchester
Where can I hike in Winchester?
The longest trail networks: Sauby Road Managed Land, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Winchester is conserved land?
16% 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 Winchester’s trails?
Rat River Wildlife Area and Winchester Meadow State Natural Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Winchester?
15,480 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Winchester or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 3,509 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Winchester have?
Ahead of 72% 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 Winchester 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 →