Meadows Park
Managed by Dixon Park District
549 acres3.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Stevedrone91 · CC BY-SA 4.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Dixon
Dixon has 747 acres of parks, 50 for every 1,000 residents
95% of residents live within a half mile of a park. The biggest trail networks: Meadows Park (3.6 mi). 4.4 miles of mapped trail cross Dixon, 0.5 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 81% of U.S. towns · #186 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
273 acres · of 9.5 sq mi of land
Trails
4.4 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
747 ac
50 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
95%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
5.3 mi
5.3 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
2 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Dixon?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Dixon have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Dixon is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns, #186 of 768 in Illinois. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; park acres per resident rank highest, conserved land lowest.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Dixon’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (4 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4BPark land50 acres of park per 1,000 residents (747 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home95% of residents within a half mile of a park · IL 88% · U.S. 72%A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 81%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 76%
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
The longest trail network is Meadows Park, with 3.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Vaile Park
Park
9 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 18 parks & preserves
Meadows Park549 acres · 3.6 mi of trail · Dixon Park District
DirectionsHowell Park2 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsPresident's Park2 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsVeterans Memorial Park2 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Van Arnam's Island48 acres
DirectionsPage Park46 acres
DirectionsVaile Park9 acres
Ballou Park6 acres
DirectionsReynolds Field5 acres
Washington Field5 acres
DirectionsJohn Dixon Park2 acres
DirectionsE.C. Smith Park2 acres
DirectionsJohn C Roe Park2 acres
DirectionsGrace K Johnson Park1 acres
Heritage Crossing1 acres
DirectionsHaymarket Square1 acres
DirectionsKiwanis Park1 acres
DirectionsDement Park1 acres
Who protects it
273 conserved acres
5% of Dixon’s land. Who manages Dixon’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Regional agency154 ac
Town or city67 ac
Joint55 ac
Local Park · 208 acUnknown · 63 acLocal Recreation Area · 5 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meadows Park Local Park | Regional agency | 78 | Open |
| Van Arnam's Island & Willow Park Local Park | Joint | 55 | Open |
| Lowell Parkway Multi-use Trail Unknown | Town or city | 33 | Open |
| Unnamed Property Unknown | Town or city | 30 | Open |
| Page Park Local Park | Regional agency | 22 | Open |
| Borden Park Local Park | Regional agency | 15 | Open |
| John C Roe Park Local Park | Regional agency | 15 | Open |
| Reynolds Fields Local Recreation Area | Regional agency | 5 | Open |
| Ballou Park Local Park | Regional agency | 5 | Open |
| Vaile Park Local Park | Regional agency | 4 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
9 places to go in Dixon
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Dixon
4 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Dixon
Park 4 Paws Dog ParkIn Meadows Park
DirectionsBoat launches in Dixon
Page ParkIn Page Park
DirectionsPlus 1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Waterfalls in Dixon
1 waterfall without a name on the map.
Scenic views in Dixon
1 scenic view without a name on the map.
Trails & water
2 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
5.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
5.3 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
11Baseball
9Tennis
4Soccer
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →5 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 7 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
September is the best month for walking in Dixon
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 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 30 | 34 | 47 | 61 | 72 | 81 | 84 | 82 | 76 | 63 | 48 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 1.7 | 1.8 | 2.5 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 5.2 | 4.1 | 4.0 | 3.5 | 3.0 | 2.4 | 2.1 |
January is the driest month (1.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 5.2 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Dixon →
Questions about parks and trails in Dixon
Where can I hike in Dixon?
The longest trail networks: Meadows Park, 3.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Dixon is conserved land?
5% 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 Dixon’s trails?
Meadows Park and Van Arnam's Island don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Dixon?
5.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 5.3 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Dixon?
6,182 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Dixon or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 766 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Dixon have?
Ahead of 81% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #186 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 Dixon 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 →