Lakeland Park
Nature preserve
459 acres1.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Stolehome · CC BY-SA 3.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Canton
30% of Canton’s land is conserved: 1,606 acres
1,562 acres are parks and preserves, 119 per 1,000 residents. 94% of residents live within a half mile of a park. The biggest trail networks: Lakeland Park (1.9 mi), Canton Lake (1.8 mi).
Ahead of 94% of U.S. towns · #38 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
30%
1,606 acres · of 8.4 sq mi of land
Trails
3.8 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
1,562 ac
119 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
94%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.5 mi
3.5 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
6
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Canton?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Canton have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Canton is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #38 of 768 in Illinois. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; conserved land ranks highest, trail miles lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Canton’s overall grade.
Conserved land30% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (4 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4BPark land119 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,562 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13AParks close to home94% 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 94%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 95%
Water is 6% of Canton’s area (1 of 9 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 28%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A 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 Lakeland Park, with 1.9 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Canton Lake
Nature preserve
310 acres1.8 mi of trail
Lake Canton Yellow TrailLake Canton Blue TrailLake Canton Orange Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailhead
Canton Youth Acres
Nature preserve
59 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 10 parks & preserves
Lakeland Park459 acres · 1.9 mi of trail
DirectionsCanton Lake310 acres · 1.8 mi of trail
DirectionsBig Creek Park298 acres
DirectionsCanton Youth Acres59 acres
Prairie Park28 acres
Wallace Park12 acres
South Park4 acres
McCall Park1 acres
Anderson Park1 acres
Dean Park1 acres
Who protects it
1,606 conserved acres
30% of Canton’s land. Water is left out: Canton has 8.4 square miles of land and 0.5 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Canton’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Regional agency744 ac
Town or city677 ac
Private owners117 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits69 ac
Local Park · 1,263 acState Recreation Area · 139 acLocal Recreation Area · 117 acPrivate Recreation or Education · 64 acLocal Conservation Area · 19 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lakeland Park Local Park | Regional agency | 457 | Open |
| Canton Lake Local Park | Town or city | 309 | Open |
| Big Creek Park Local Park | Regional agency | 254 | Open |
| Canton Park District Local Park | Town or city | 202 | Open |
| Canton Waterworks State Recreation Area | Town or city | 139 | Open |
| Canton Country Club Local Recreation Area | Private owners | 117 | Open |
| Canton Youth Acres Private Recreation or Education | Land trusts & nonprofits | 62 | Open |
| Wallace Park Local Park | Regional agency | 21 | Open |
| Prairie Park Local Conservation Area | Town or city | 17 | Open |
| Athletic Park Local Park | Regional agency | 15 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
6 places to go in Canton
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Canton
4 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Canton
1 dog park without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in Canton
1 boat launch without a name on the map.
Trails & water
3 named trails and 6 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 1.9 mi
Lake Canton Yellow Trail0.9 mi
Lake Canton Blue Trail0.6 mi
Lake Canton Orange Trail0.4 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
3.5 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
3.5 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
10Baseball
4Tennis
1Skate park
1Football
1Softball
1Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →3 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
August is the best month for walking in Canton
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) | 9.6 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.4 | 15.1 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.9 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 33 | 38 | 51 | 64 | 74 | 83 | 86 | 84 | 78 | 65 | 50 | 38 |
| Rain (in) | 1.9 | 1.9 | 2.5 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 4.6 | 4.1 | 3.5 | 3.7 | 3.1 | 2.7 | 2.1 |
January is the driest month (1.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 86 °F). 5.0 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Canton →
Next door
Canton and its neighbors
Canton has the most mapped trails of the 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canton | 30% | 0.5 | 119 | 94% | A |
| Canton Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Buckheart Township | under 1% | 0.1 | 3 | under 1% | D |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Canton
Where can I hike in Canton?
The longest trail networks: Lakeland Park, 1.9 miles; Canton Lake, 1.8 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Canton is conserved land?
30% 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 Canton’s trails?
Lakeland Park and Canton Lake don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Canton?
3.5 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.5 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Canton?
21,772 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Canton or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,562 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Canton have?
Ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #38 of 768 in Illinois. 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 Canton 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 →