Photo: Adam Moss · CC BY-SA 2.098% of residents live within a half mile of a park in Colchester
22 acres are parks and preserves, 19 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 33% of U.S. towns. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Colchester?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Colchester have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Colchester is ahead of 33% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Pick a walk
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Colchester City Fair Grounds
2 places to go in Colchester
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
August is the best month for walking in Colchester
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 | 15.0 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.9 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 33 | 38 | 51 | 63 | 74 | 82 | 85 | 84 | 78 | 65 | 50 | 38 |
| Rain (in) | 1.7 | 1.9 | 2.5 | 4.0 | 5.1 | 5.0 | 4.1 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.2 | 2.6 | 2.0 |
January is the driest month (1.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 5.1 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Colchester →
Questions about parks and trails in Colchester
How much of Colchester is conserved land?
under 1% 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 Colchester’s trails?
Friendway Park and Colchester City Fair Grounds don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Colchester?
3,251 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Colchester or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 22 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Colchester have?
Ahead of 33% 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 Colchester neighbors.
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 →