1
Escanaba River State Forest - Gwinn Unit
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
5,874 acres7.5 mi of trail
County Road Akc
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Outdoors · Champion
Champion, MI parks, trails & bike paths
About 3.2% of Champion is conserved land, roughly 2,537 acres. There are about 161 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Escanaba River State Forest - Gwinn Unit (7.5 mi) and Van Riper State Park (1.7 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Champion, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Champion outdoors
Conserved land
3.2%
2,537 of 79,399 acres
Trails
161 mi
1.3 mi per sq mi · 2 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
6
named on the map
Bike routes
1.0 mi
0.0 mi lanes · 1.0 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
Van Riper State Park
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
292 acres1.7 mi of trail
Main TrailOld Wagon Road TrailMiners Loop
Dog rules not recorded
3
Escanaba River State Forest - Gwinn Unit (North)
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
5,874 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
4
Mulligan Creek Highlands Reserve
Managed by The Nature Conservancy
1,742 acres
Dogs usually not allowedTypical for Nature Conservancy preserves. Check posted rules
No trailhead mapped yet
Things to do
Beaches, playgrounds, falls & more
Pick a kind of place for the list, directions, or pins on the map above.
Boat launches in Champion
Dead River Basin-north Boat Launch
Silver Lake Basin boat launch
Wolf Lake Boat LaunchIn Escanaba River State Forest - Gwinn Unit
Trails
Named trails
Unpaved 14.0 mi
Showing 1–10 of 15 trails
- North Country Trail7.4 mi
- County Road AAP2.9 mi
- County Road Akc1.8 mi
- Chicago and North Western RR1.4 mi
- Main Trail0.7 mi
- County Road ABA0.5 mi
- Old Wagon Road Trail0.4 mi
- Miners Loop0.4 mi
- County Road AAB0.4 mi
- County Road AKB0.4 mi
Water
Lakes & rivers
Showing 1–10 of 18 places
8 LakeBob LakeBush LakeGlass LakeIsland LakeLog LakePenny LakeRound LakeSilver Lake BasinreservoirSilver Lead Mine Lake
Tap a name for directions.
Who protects the land
2,537 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 278 acres are conservation easements, which are usually private land. 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 paths1.0 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.0 mi
Courts & fields
- Basketball1
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Public lands
The biggest protected places in Champion
From USGS PAD-US: who manages each one and whether visitors are welcome.
Private Conservation 1,729 acState Park 295 acConservation Easement 278 acState Wilderness 235 ac
| Place | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mulligan Creek Highlands ReservePrivate Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 1,729 | Restricted |
| Van Riper State ParkState Park | State parks | 295 | Open |
| Rocking Chair Lakes Natural AreaState Wilderness | State natural resources | 235 | Closed |
History
Historic places to visit
Champion CemeteryCemetery
Sacred Heart CemeteryCemetery
Nearby
Champion and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
| Town | Conserved | Trails | Parks & preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Champion | 3.2% | 160.8 mi | 6 |
| Michigamme | 16.8% | 205.1 mi | 9 |
| Ishpeming | 1.5% | 94.7 mi | 4 |
| Ely | 5.6% | 102.1 mi | 5 |
| Powell | 21.7% | 252.6 mi | 12 |
| Humboldt | 4.6% | 86.9 mi | 3 |
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Champion'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 47.1-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.