Crowder Park
Park
19 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
COutdoors
Outdoors in Bethany
97% of residents live within a half mile of a park in Bethany
24 acres are parks and preserves, 20 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 33% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
0 acres · of 1.0 sq mi of land
Trails
0.0 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
24 ac
20 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
97%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.3 mi
1.3 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Bethany?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Bethany have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Bethany is ahead of 33% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Bethany’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%DTrails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4DPark land20 acres of park per 1,000 residents (24 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13BParks close to home97% of residents within a half mile of a park · IL 88% · U.S. 72%A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 33%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. 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.
Harlin Park
Park
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Things to do
2 places to go in Bethany
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Bethany
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Biking & sports
1.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.3 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
4Baseball
2Tennis
1Skate park
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
August is the best month for walking in Bethany
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) | 9.7 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 15.0 | 14.7 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 35 | 40 | 52 | 64 | 74 | 83 | 86 | 85 | 79 | 67 | 52 | 40 |
| Rain (in) | 2.3 | 2.0 | 2.8 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.0 | 3.2 | 3.0 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 2.4 |
February is the driest month (2.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 86 °F). 4.5 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Bethany →
Questions about parks and trails in Bethany
How much of Bethany is conserved land?
under 1% of its land, against a typical 4% for an Illinois town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Bethany’s trails?
Crowder Park and Harlin Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Bethany?
1.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.3 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Bethany?
1,251 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Bethany or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 24 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Bethany have?
Ahead of 33% 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 Bethany 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 →