1
Consuelo Diane & Charles L. Wilson Jr. Working Forest Reserve
Nature preserve
252 acres2.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
Outdoors · West Traverse
West Traverse, MI parks, trails & bike paths
About 11% of West Traverse is conserved land, roughly 892 acres. There are about 21 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Consuelo Diane & Charles L. Wilson Jr. Working Forest Reserve (2.6 mi), Winter Park (2 mi), and Thorne Swift Nature Preserve (0.9 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in West Traverse, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
West Traverse outdoors
Conserved land
11%
892 of 8,509 acres
Trails
21 mi
1.6 mi per sq mi · 7 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
13
504 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
0.8 mi
0.0 mi lanes · 0.8 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
Winter Park
Park
81 acres2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
3
Thorne Swift Nature Preserve
Nature preserve
27 acres0.9 mi of trail
Balsam TrailCedar TrailBeach Trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
4
Morris-de la Vergne & Luettjohann-Garver Nature Preserve
Nature preserve
30 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 13 parks & preserves
Showing 1–10 of 13 parks & preserves
Consuelo Diane & Charles L. Wilson Jr. Working Forest Reserve252 acres · 2.6 mi of trail
Winter Park81 acres · 2 mi of trail
Thorne Swift Nature Preserve27 acres · 0.9 mi of trail
Morris-de la Vergne & Luettjohann-Garver Nature Preserve30 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
David H. Irish Nature Preserve59 acres
Five Mile Creek Nature Preserve56 acres
Charles S. Winston, Jr. Nature Preserve42 acres
Horner Nature Preserve28 acres
Henry & Anna Yeiser Nature Preserve28 acres
Weimer's Lake Nature Preserve12 acres
Things to do
Beaches, playgrounds, falls & more
Pick a kind of place for the list, directions, or pins on the map above.
Scenic views in West Traverse
The DunesIn Thorne Swift Nature Preserve
Trails
Named trails
Unpaved 8.3 mi
- Balsam Trail0.4 mi
- Cedar Trail0.3 mi
- Beach Trail0.2 mi
Water
Lakes & rivers
Tap a name for directions.
Who protects the land
892 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 2 of 11 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 paths0.8 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.0 mi
Courts & fields
- Tennis16
- Pickleball4
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Public lands
The biggest protected places in West Traverse
From USGS PAD-US: who manages each one and whether visitors are welcome.
Private Park 299 acPrivate Forest Stewardship 251 acState Conservation Area 120 acPrivate Conservation 114 acLocal Park 109 ac
Showing 1–10 of 11 places
| Place | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consuelo Diane & Charles L. Wilson Jr.Private Forest Stewardship | Land trusts & nonprofits | 251 | Open |
| Birchwood Farms Golf and Country ClubPrivate Park | Private owners | 205 | Restricted |
| Five Mile CreekState Conservation Area | Land trusts & nonprofits | 120 | Open |
| Winter ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 109 | Open |
| Harbor Point Country ClubPrivate Park | Private owners | 94 | Restricted |
| Charles S. Winston Jr.Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 43 | Access unknown |
| Morris-de la Vergne & Luettjohann-GarverPrivate Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 31 | Open |
| Thorne SwiftPrivate Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 25 | Open |
| Weimers LakePrivate Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 11 | Open |
| EdwardsPrivate Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 1 | Closed |
History
Historic places to visit
Lakeview CemeteryCemetery
Nearby
West Traverse and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
| Town | Conserved | Trails | Parks & preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Traverse | 10.5% | 20.7 mi | 13 |
| Harbor Springs | 8.7% | 2.1 mi | 11 |
| Little Traverse | 10.4% | 44.0 mi | 32 |
| Pleasantview | 4.5% | 124.9 mi | 4 |
| Friendship | 1.4% | 32.1 mi | 6 |
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about West Traverse'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.