Carlyle Parks and Recreation
Park
21 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Nyttend · Public domainA−Outdoors
Outdoors in Carlyle Township
Carlyle Township has 286 acres of parks, 75 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Carlyle Parks and Recreation (0.6 mi). 83% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 7.3 miles of mapped trail cross Carlyle Township, 0.4 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 76% of U.S. towns · #244 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
4%
491 acres · of 17.8 sq mi of land
Trails
7.3 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
286 ac
75 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
83%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
535 ft
Corcoran Hill
Lakes & rivers
1
2 beaches · 5 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Carlyle Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Carlyle Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Carlyle Township is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns, #244 of 768 in Illinois. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; park acres per resident rank highest, conserved land lowest.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Carlyle Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land4% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (7 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4BPark land75 acres of park per 1,000 residents (286 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home83% of residents within a half mile of a park · IL 88% · U.S. 72%B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 76%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 68%
Water is 14% of Carlyle Township’s area (3 of 21 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 4%.
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 Carlyle Parks and Recreation, with 0.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Eldon Hazlet State Park
Managed by Illinois Department of Natural Resources
611 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Clinton County Fair Grounds
Park
19 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
491 conserved acres
4% of Carlyle Township’s land. Water is left out: Carlyle Township has 17.8 square miles of land and 2.8 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Carlyle Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources370 ac
Private owners91 ac
Town or city31 ac
State Recreation Area · 370 acPrivate Conservation · 91 acLocal Recreation Area · 19 acLocal Park · 8 acUnknown · 4 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eldon Hazlet State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 370 | Open |
| Kaskaskia River - Carlyle Private Conservation | Private owners | 91 | Restricted |
| Carlyle Parks & Recreation Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 19 | Open |
| Fish Hatchery Playground Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Boat Docks Unknown | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Maple Hill Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Vacant Park Ground Unknown | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Bruemmer Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| Water Tower Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
15 places to go in Carlyle Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Carlyle Township
2 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Playgrounds in Carlyle Township
6 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Boat launches in Carlyle Township
5 boat launches without a name on the map.
Peaks in Carlyle Township
Corcoran Hill535 ft elevation
DirectionsSchaeffer Hill528 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
When to get out
The walking year in Carlyle Township
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 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 14.8 | 14.6 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| High (°F) | 39 | 44 | 55 | 67 | 76 | 85 | 88 | 87 | 81 | 69 | 54 | 43 |
| Rain (in) | 3.0 | 2.4 | 3.5 | 4.7 | 5.0 | 4.4 | 3.9 | 3.3 | 3.5 | 3.2 | 3.7 | 2.8 |
February is the driest month (2.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 88 °F). 5.0 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 88 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Carlyle Township →
Next door
Carlyle Township and its neighbors
Carlyle Township has the second most mapped trails of the 5 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Irishtown Township8.7 miCarlyle Township7.3 miLake Township2.1 miWade Township1.6 miClement Township0.7 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlyle Township | 4% | 0.4 | 75 | 83% | A− |
| Lake Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Irishtown Township | 13% | 0.3 | 1,979 | 13% | B+ |
| Wade Township | under 1% | 0.1 | 36 | 64% | C+ |
| Clement Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Carlyle Township
Where can I hike in Carlyle Township?
The longest trail networks: Carlyle Parks and Recreation, 0.6 miles; Eldon Hazlet State Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Carlyle Township is conserved land?
4% 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 Carlyle Township’s trails?
Carlyle Parks and Recreation and Eldon Hazlet State Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Carlyle Township?
2,540 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Carlyle Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 290 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Carlyle Township have?
Ahead of 76% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #244 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 Carlyle Township 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 →