Big Rock Forest Preserve
Managed by Forest Preserve District of Kane County
207 acres2.5 mi of trail
Northwestern Lot Line TrailCamp to Lake TrailNorthwestern Connector TrailCamp Pond Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Jauerback · CC BY-SA 4.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Big Rock
Big Rock has 85 acres of parks, 55 for every 1,000 residents
91% of residents live within a half mile of a park. The biggest trail networks: Big Rock Forest Preserve (2.5 mi). 2.9 miles of mapped trail cross Big Rock, 0.7 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 80% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
80 acres · of 4.3 sq mi of land
Trails
2.9 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
85 ac
55 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
91%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.4 mi
0.4 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Big Rock?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Big Rock have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Big Rock is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Big Rock’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (3 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land55 acres of park per 1,000 residents (85 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home91% 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 80%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A. 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
The longest trail network is Big Rock Forest Preserve, with 2.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Big Rock Community Park
Park
16 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
80 conserved acres
3% of Big Rock’s land. Who manages Big Rock’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Regional agency66 ac
Town or city14 ac
Local Conservation Area · 61 acLocal Park · 14 acLocal Other or Unknown · 5 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 4 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big Rock Forest Preserve- Addition Local Conservation Area | Regional agency | 61 | Open |
| Community Park Local Park | Town or city | 14 | Open |
| Big Rock Forest Preserve 3 Local Other or Unknown | Regional agency | 4 | Unknown |
| Big Rock Forest Preserve 2 Local Other or Unknown | Regional agency | 1 | Unknown |
Things to do
3 places to go in Big Rock
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Big Rock
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Campgrounds in Big Rock
Big Rock CampgroundIn Big Rock Forest Preserve · Forest Preserve District of Kane County
DirectionsTrails & water
5 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 2.5 mi
Northwestern Lot Line Trail1.0 mi
Camp to Lake Trail0.5 mi
Northwestern Connector Trail0.3 mi
Camp Pond Trail0.2 mi
Welch Creek Trail0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.4 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.4 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
6Baseball
3Basketball
2Pickleball
1Soccer
1Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Big Rock: April and September
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) | 9.5 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 30 | 35 | 47 | 60 | 72 | 81 | 84 | 82 | 76 | 63 | 48 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 1.8 | 1.7 | 2.2 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 4.5 | 3.8 | 4.0 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 2.5 | 2.0 |
February is the driest month (1.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.7 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Big Rock →
Next door
Big Rock and its neighbors
Big Rock has the most mapped trails of the 2 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Rock | 3% | 0.7 | 55 | 91% | A− |
| Sugar Grove | 2% | 0.2 | 25 | 94% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Big Rock
Where can I hike in Big Rock?
The longest trail networks: Big Rock Forest Preserve, 2.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Big Rock is conserved land?
3% 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 Big Rock’s trails?
Big Rock Forest Preserve and Big Rock Community Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Big Rock?
0.4 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.4 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Big Rock?
13,358 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Big Rock or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 85 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Big Rock have?
Ahead of 80% 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 Big Rock 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 →