1
Mackinaw State Forest - Gaylord Unit
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
208 acres2.2 mi of trail
Conjunction Junction
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Website
Outdoors · Bay
Bay, MI parks, trails & bike paths
About 3.9% of Bay is conserved land, roughly 463 acres. There are about 14 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Mackinaw State Forest - Gaylord Unit (2.2 mi), Maplecrest Preserve (0.8 mi), and Church Family Preserve (0.6 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Bay, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Bay outdoors
Conserved land
3.9%
463 of 12,008 acres
Trails
14 mi
0.7 mi per sq mi · 6 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
9
386 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
1.5 mi
0.0 mi lanes · 1.5 mi off-road paths
Conserved land is a share of the whole town area. Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number or a place below to zoom in© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Parks & preserves with trails
Ranked by mapped trail miles. Directions go to the nearest marked trailhead or public parking.
2
Maplecrest Preserve
Nature preserve
21 acres0.8 mi of trail
Maplecrest Loop Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
3
Church Family Preserve
Nature preserve
26 acres0.6 mi of trail
Church LoopTake Me to Church Connector
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
4
Nick Adams Nature Preserve
Nature preserve
43 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 9 parks & preserves
Mackinaw State Forest - Gaylord Unit208 acres · 2.2 mi of trail · Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Maplecrest Preserve21 acres · 0.8 mi of trail
Church Family Preserve26 acres · 0.6 mi of trail
Nick Adams Nature Preserve43 acres
Taylor Horton Creek Nature Preserve36 acres
Bois LeDuc Preserve30 acres · Walloon Lake Trust & Conservancy
Rufus Teesdale Nature Preserve9 acres
TOMMBA Trails Preserve3 acres · Walloon Lake Trust & Conservancy
Marx Nature Preserve1 acres
Things to do
Beaches, playgrounds, falls & more
Pick a kind of place for the list, directions, or pins on the map above.
Picnic areas in Bay
Steak Ride
Trails
Named trails
Open to bikes 1.6 miHorses 0.7 miUnpaved 4.7 mi
- Conjunction Junction1.6 mi
- Maplecrest Loop Trail0.8 mi
- Two Lakes0.7 mi
- Church Loop0.6 mi
- Wilderness and Wonders0.5 mi
- Lakeshore Hike0.5 mi
- Ropes Trail0.2 mi
- Nature Trail0.1 mi
- Take Me to Church Connector0.1 mi
Water
Lakes & rivers
Tap a name for directions.
Who protects the land
463 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. Public access isn't recorded for 1 of 5 parcels. The places listed above are parks and preserves people visit.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes0.0 mi
- Off-road bike paths1.5 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.0 mi
- Boyne Forest Trails (bike route)1.6 mi
Courts & fields
- Tennis8
- Equestrian3
- Basketball2
- Beach volleyball1
- Baseball1
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Public lands
The biggest protected places in Bay
From USGS PAD-US: who manages each one and whether visitors are welcome.
Local Recreation Area 373 acPrivate Conservation 89 ac
| Place | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Camp MichiganiaLocal Recreation Area | Town or city | 373 | Open |
| Nick AdamsPrivate Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 42 | Open |
| Taylor Horton CreekPrivate Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 35 | Open |
| Rufus TeesdalePrivate Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 10 | Open |
| MarxPrivate Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 1 | Access unknown |
History
Historic places to visit
Old mill ruinsRuins
Dyer CemeteryCemetery
Horton Bay CemeteryCemetery
North Bay CemeteryCemetery
Nearby
Bay and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
| Town | Conserved | Trails | Parks & preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bay | 3.9% | 13.8 mi | 9 |
| Resort | 4.5% | 15.8 mi | 13 |
| Hayes | 4.8% | 23.8 mi | 21 |
| Evangeline | 7% | 26.1 mi | 8 |
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Bay's trails yet. Muddy, icy, a bridge out, where to park: a quick post helps the next person.
Sources: trails, parks, preserves, courts and bike lanes © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), map data as of 2026-09-28. Conserved land: USGS Gap Analysis Project, Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US). Measured against the Census town boundary.
How we measure
"Trails" are OpenStreetMap paths, bridleways, public tracks and unpaved footways, plus footways inside a park or preserve or on a named trail route. Sidewalks are left out. Areas are counted on a 20-meter grid, so overlapping parcels count once. "Conserved" includes conservation easements, which protect land from development but are usually private property. Trailheads are the nearest marked trailhead, public parking lot or information board within about 150 meters of a preserve. Dog rules come from OpenStreetMap when someone has tagged them; otherwise we show what's typical for the land manager, or say the rules aren't recorded.