Rend Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area
Managed by Illinois Department of Natural Resources
1,223 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Dodds Township
Dodds Township has 717 acres of parks, 265 for every 1,000 residents
18% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 3.1 miles of mapped trail cross Dodds Township, 0.1 per square mile of land. 3% of Dodds Township’s land is conserved, about 716 acres.
Ahead of 44% of U.S. towns · #550 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
716 acres · of 36.8 sq mi of land
Trails
3.1 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
717 ac
265 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
18%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Dodds Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Dodds Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Dodds Township is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns, #550 of 768 in Illinois. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Dodds Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (3 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4CPark land265 acres of park per 1,000 residents (717 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13AParks close to home18% of residents within a half mile of a park · IL 88% · U.S. 72%C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 44%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 28%
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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
716 conserved acres
3% of Dodds Township’s land. Who manages Dodds Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources716 ac
State Conservation Area · 716 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mt. Vernon Game Propagation Center State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 716 | Open |
Things to do
4 places to go in Dodds Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Dodds Township
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Peaks in Dodds Township
Lemmons Hill
DirectionsBiking & 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
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The walking year in Dodds Township
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) | 9.8 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.1 | 14.2 | 14.8 | 14.6 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| High (°F) | 40 | 45 | 55 | 67 | 76 | 84 | 87 | 86 | 80 | 69 | 55 | 44 |
| Rain (in) | 3.1 | 2.7 | 4.0 | 4.9 | 5.2 | 4.7 | 4.0 | 3.5 | 3.2 | 3.4 | 4.0 | 3.0 |
February is the driest month (2.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 5.2 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Dodds Township →
Next door
Dodds Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Mount Vernon8.9 miMount Vernon Township7.4 miPendleton Township4.9 miMcClellan Township4.6 miSpring Garden Township4.4 miDodds Township3.1 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dodds Township | 3% | 0.1 | 265 | 18% | C+ |
| McClellan Township | 1% | 0.1 | 77 | 4% | C |
| Mount Vernon Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Spring Garden Township | 3% | 0.1 | 60 | 21% | C+ |
| Pendleton Township | 7% | 0.1 | 1,060 | 37% | B |
| Mount Vernon | 1% | 0.6 | 19 | 70% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Dodds Township
How much of Dodds Township is conserved land?
3% 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 Dodds Township’s trails?
Rend Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Dodds Township?
8,086 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Dodds Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 717 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Dodds Township have?
Ahead of 44% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #550 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 Dodds 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 →