Turtle Wetlands
Nature preserve
111 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: SkibumPMC · Public domainA−Outdoors
Outdoors in Channel Lake
Channel Lake has 200 acres of parks, 97 for every 1,000 residents
15% of Channel Lake’s land is conserved, about 175 acres. 87% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 0.3 miles of mapped trail cross Channel Lake, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 81% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
15%
175 acres · of 1.8 sq mi of land
Trails
0.3 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
200 ac
97 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
87%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
6
2 beaches · 5 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Channel Lake?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Channel Lake have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Channel Lake is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Channel Lake’s overall grade.
Conserved land15% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land97 acres of park per 1,000 residents (200 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13AParks close to home87% 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 81%
LessMore
Water is 25% of Channel Lake’s area (1 of 2 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 12%.
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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Channel Lake North Beach Park
Managed by Beach
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
175 conserved acres
15% of Channel Lake’s land. Water is left out: Channel Lake has 1.8 square miles of land and 0.6 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Channel Lake’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city175 ac
State conservation1 ac
State Conservation Area · 175 acState Park · 1 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Channel Lake State Conservation Area | Town or city | 175 | Open |
| Chain O'Lakes State Park State Park | State conservation | 1 | Open |
Things to do
7 places to go in Channel Lake
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Channel Lake
2 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Channel Lake
5 boat launches without a name on the map.
Trails & water
6 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Courts & fields
3Beach volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Channel Lake: July to 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) | 9.4 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 30 | 34 | 45 | 57 | 69 | 79 | 83 | 81 | 74 | 61 | 47 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 1.8 | 1.7 | 2.2 | 3.8 | 4.1 | 4.5 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 2.4 | 2.0 |
February is the driest month (1.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.5 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Channel Lake →
Questions about parks and trails in Channel Lake
How much of Channel Lake is conserved land?
15% 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 Channel Lake’s trails?
Turtle Wetlands and Channel Lake-Lake Marie Channel Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Channel Lake?
22,533 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Channel Lake or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 200 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Channel Lake have?
Ahead of 81% 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 Channel Lake 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 →