Cortland Park
Park
13 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Cortland Township
Cortland Township has 121 acres of parks, 11 for every 1,000 residents
83% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 5.0 miles of mapped trail cross Cortland Township, 0.1 per square mile of land. 1% of Cortland Township’s land is conserved, about 294 acres.
Ahead of 42% of U.S. towns · #573 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
294 acres · of 35.0 sq mi of land
Trails
5.0 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
121 ac
11 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
83%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
7.9 mi
1.4 mi lanes · 6.5 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Cortland Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Cortland Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Cortland Township is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns, #573 of 768 in Illinois. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Cortland Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (5 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land11 acres of park per 1,000 residents (121 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13B−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 42%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 25%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B−. 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 Cortland Park, with 0.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Suppeland Park
Park
7 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Kiwanis Park
Park
6 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Lions Park
Park
6 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 7 parks & preserves
Cortland Park13 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Kiwanis Park6 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
McPhillips Park2 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Suppeland Park7 acres
Lions Park6 acres
Hetchler Park4 acres
Welsh Park1 acres
Who protects it
294 conserved acres
1% of Cortland Township’s land. Who manages Cortland Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city265 ac
Regional agency29 ac
State Conservation Area · 132 acUnknown · 115 acLocal Park · 47 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parkside Preserve State Conservation Area | Town or city | 132 | Closed |
| Sycamore Community Park & Sports Complex Unknown | Town or city | 73 | Open |
| Great Western Trail Unknown | Regional agency | 28 | Open |
| Reston Ponds Unknown | Town or city | 13 | Open |
| Cortland Community Park Local Park | Town or city | 11 | Open |
| Mcphillips Park Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| Kiwanis Prairie Park Local Park | Town or city | 8 | Open |
| Suppeland Park Local Park | Town or city | 7 | Open |
| Hetchler Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Old Kiwanis Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
4 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
11 places to go in Cortland Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Cortland Township
10 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Cortland Township
Sycamore Park District Brian Bemis Family Dog ParkHours: sunrise-sunset
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Open to bikes · 2.6 miUnpaved · 2.6 mi
Great Western Trail2.4 mi
Biking & sports
7.9 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.4 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
6.5 mi
off-road bike paths
Great Western TrailBike route
2.4 miCourts & fields
4Basketball
3Tennis
2Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Cortland Township: April and 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 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 29 | 34 | 46 | 59 | 71 | 80 | 83 | 81 | 75 | 62 | 47 | 34 |
| Rain (in) | 1.8 | 1.7 | 2.2 | 3.7 | 4.6 | 4.8 | 3.9 | 3.9 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 2.5 | 2.0 |
February is the driest month (1.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.8 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Cortland Township →
Next door
Cortland Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
DeKalb Township8.9 miVirgil Township6.0 miSycamore Township5.3 miCortland Township5.0 miPierce Township3.6 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cortland Township | 1% | 0.1 | 11 | 83% | C+ |
| DeKalb Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Virgil Township | 7% | 0.2 | 679 | 61% | B+ |
| Pierce Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Sycamore Township | 2% | 0.2 | 28 | 83% | B− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Cortland Township
Where can I hike in Cortland Township?
The longest trail networks: Cortland Park, 0.2 miles; Kiwanis Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Cortland Township is conserved land?
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 Cortland Township’s trails?
Cortland Park and Suppeland Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Cortland Township?
7.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.4 of painted or protected lanes and 6.5 of off-road paths. Named routes: Great Western Trail.
Is there public land near Cortland Township?
8,369 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Cortland Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 179 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Cortland Township have?
Ahead of 42% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #573 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 Cortland 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 →