Sahara Woods State Recreation Area
Managed by Illinois Department of Natural Resources
3,718 acres14.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Ruhe1986 at English Wikipedia · Public domainA+Outdoors
Outdoors in Carrier Mills Township
Carrier Mills Township has 8,146 acres of parks, 3,249 for every 1,000 residents
50% of Carrier Mills Township’s land is conserved, about 11,818 acres. 43 miles of mapped trail cross Carrier Mills Township, 1.2 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Sahara Woods State Recreation Area (14.2 mi).
Ahead of 97% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
50%
11,818 acres · of 37.0 sq mi of land
Trails
43 mi
1.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
8,146 ac
3,249 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
74%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
6.3 mi
6.3 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
4
12 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Carrier Mills Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Carrier Mills Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Carrier Mills Township is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; park acres per resident rank highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.
A+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Carrier Mills Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land50% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%A+Trails1.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (43 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land3,249 acres of park per 1,000 residents (8,146 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home74% 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 97%
LessMore
Water is 5% of Carrier Mills Township’s area (2 of 39 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 48%.
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 Sahara Woods State Recreation Area, with 14.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Carrier Mills Park
Park
6 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Gary Jones Memorial Park
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
11,818 conserved acres
50% of Carrier Mills Township’s land. Water is left out: Carrier Mills Township has 37.0 square miles of land and 2.1 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Carrier Mills Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Private owners4,188 ac
State natural resources3,776 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits3,614 ac
Other state land133 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)125 ac
Private Conservation · 4,188 acState Conservation Area · 3,776 acAgricultural Easement · 2,518 acRanch Easement · 803 acRecreation or Education Easement · 217 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 3,721 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shawnee National Forest Private Conservation | Private owners | 4,188 | Open |
| Sahara Woods State Fish and Wildlife Area State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 3,776 | Open |
| Tunnel Hill State Recreation Area | Other state land | 133 | Open |
Things to do
13 places to go in Carrier Mills Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Carrier Mills Township
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in Carrier Mills Township
Sahara Lake Boat LaunchIn Sahara Woods State Recreation Area
DirectionsPlus 11 boat launches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
4 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
6.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
6.3 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
2Baseball
2Softball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The walking year in Carrier Mills 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) | 9.8 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.1 | 14.2 | 14.8 | 14.5 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.1 | 9.6 |
| High (°F) | 42 | 47 | 57 | 68 | 77 | 85 | 88 | 87 | 81 | 70 | 56 | 45 |
| Rain (in) | 3.5 | 3.4 | 4.6 | 5.2 | 4.9 | 4.6 | 4.1 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 3.7 |
August is the driest month (3.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 88 °F). 5.2 inches fall in April, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 88 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Carrier Mills Township →
Next door
Carrier Mills Township and its neighbors
Carrier Mills Township has the most mapped trails of the 5 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Carrier Mills Township43 miBrushy Township28 miIndependence Township17 miHarrisburg Township16 miStonefort Township4.4 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carrier Mills Township | 50% | 1.2 | 3,249 | 74% | A+ |
| Stonefort Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Brushy Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Harrisburg Township | 6% | 0.4 | 18 | 65% | B+ |
| Independence Township | 14% | 0.5 | 1 | 5% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Carrier Mills Township
Where can I hike in Carrier Mills Township?
The longest trail networks: Sahara Woods State Recreation Area, 14.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Carrier Mills Township is conserved land?
50% 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 Carrier Mills Township’s trails?
Sahara Woods State Recreation Area and Carrier Mills Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Carrier Mills Township?
6.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 6.3 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Carrier Mills Township?
95,802 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Carrier Mills Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 8,146 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Carrier Mills Township have?
Ahead of 97% 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 Carrier Mills 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 →