1
Silver Lake State Park
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
2,599 acres2.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Outdoors · Golden
Golden, MI parks, trails & bike paths
About 20% of Golden is conserved land, roughly 4,348 acres. There are about 15 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Silver Lake State Park (2.2 mi) and Pentwater State Game Area (1.3 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Golden, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Golden outdoors
Conserved land
20%
4,348 of 22,256 acres
Trails
15 mi
0.4 mi per sq mi · 5 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
7
2,547 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
5.4 mi
0.5 mi lanes · 4.9 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
Pentwater State Game Area
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
707 acres1.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
3
West Michigan Underwater Preserve
Nature preserve
36 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
4
Golden Township Park at Silver Lake Sand Dunes
Managed by Golden Township
6 acres
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
Things to do
Beaches, playgrounds, falls & more
Pick a kind of place for the list, directions, or pins on the map above.
Campgrounds in Golden
Dunes Harbor Family CampGrace Adventures
Hideaway Campground
Silver Lake State Park CampgroundIn Silver Lake State Park · Michigan DNR
Water
Lakes & rivers
East Golden PondpondLake HolidaylakeMorris LakelakeSilver LakelakeUpper Silver LakeUpper Upper Silver LakelakeWyckoff LakelakeSilver Creek
Tap a name for directions.
Who protects the land
4,348 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 27 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 lanes0.5 mi
- Off-road bike paths4.9 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.0 mi
Courts & fields
- Basketball7
- Beach volleyball4
- Pickleball3
- Equestrian3
- Tennis2
- Baseball1
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Public lands
The biggest protected places in Golden
From USGS PAD-US: who manages each one and whether visitors are welcome.
State Park 2,618 acState Recreation Area 751 acState Conservation Area 696 acLocal Conservation Area 217 acLocal Recreation Area 37 ac
| Place | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silver Lake State ParkState Park | State parks | 2,618 | Open |
| Hart-Montague Bicycle Trail ParkState Recreation Area | State natural resources | 751 | Open |
| Pentwater River State Game AreaState Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 696 | Open |
| Grace Youth Camp Nature AreaLocal Conservation Area | Town or city | 217 | Open |
| Grace Youth CampLocal Recreation Area | Town or city | 37 | Open |
| Round Lake ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
History
Historic places to visit
Little Sable Point LighthouseHours: May 27-Sep 25: 10:00-17:00 · In Silver Lake State Park
Mears CemeteryCemetery
Round Lake CemeteryCemetery
Nearby
Golden and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Golden'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 21.1-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.