Wilbert Thompson Park
Park
7 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
C−Outdoors
Outdoors in Dayton Township
Dayton Township has 11 acres of parks, 5.6 for every 1,000 residents
0.8 miles of mapped trail cross Dayton Township. 61% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 20% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
58 acres · of 21.1 sq mi of land
Trails
0.8 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
11 ac
5.6 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
61%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.4 mi
0.4 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Dayton Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Dayton Township is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park comes closest.
C−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Dayton Township’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%C−Trails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land5.6 acres of park per 1,000 residents (11 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13CParks close to home61% 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 20%
LessMore
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Dayton Township. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would still be C−. 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 Wilbert Thompson Park, with 0.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
58 conserved acres
under 1% of Dayton Township’s land. Who manages Dayton Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Private owners48 ac
State natural resources7 ac
State conservation6 ac
Town or city3 ac
State Conservation Area · 55 acConservation Easement · 6 acLocal Park · 3 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Fox River-Wedron Palisades Nature Preserve State Conservation Area | Private owners | 48 | Closed |
| Lower Fox River- Blake's Landing State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 7 | Open |
| Gracefiled/Phillips Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Turnberry Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Dayton Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Dayton Township
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.4 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.4 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
2Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Dayton 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) | 9.5 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 31 | 36 | 48 | 62 | 73 | 82 | 84 | 83 | 77 | 64 | 49 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 1.9 | 1.8 | 2.2 | 3.6 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 3.3 | 3.1 | 2.5 | 2.0 |
February is the driest month (1.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.6 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Dayton Township →
Next door
Dayton Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dayton Township | under 1% | under 0.1 | 6 | 61% | C− |
| Rutland Township | 3% | 0.3 | 32 | 42% | B− |
| Ottawa Township | 5% | 0.2 | 36 | 87% | B+ |
| Freedom Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Ottawa | 5% | 0.7 | 10 | 92% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Dayton Township
Where can I hike in Dayton Township?
The longest trail networks: Wilbert Thompson Park, 0.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Dayton Township 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 Dayton Township’s trails?
Wilbert Thompson Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Dayton Township?
0.4 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.4 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Dayton Township?
3,630 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Dayton Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 11 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Dayton Township have?
Ahead of 20% 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 Dayton 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 →