Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
Managed by United States Forest Service
185 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Photo: User:Visviva · CC BY-SA 4.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Elwood
More than half of Elwood’s land is conserved: 60%
60% of Elwood’s land is conserved, about 5,284 acres. 118 acres are parks and preserves, 59 per 1,000 residents. 92% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 90% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
60%
5,284 acres · of 13.6 sq mi of land
Trails
4.3 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
118 ac
59 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
92%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.3 mi
1.3 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Elwood?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Elwood have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Elwood is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; conserved land ranks highest, trail miles lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Elwood’s overall grade.
Conserved land60% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%A+Trails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (4 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land59 acres of park per 1,000 residents (118 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home92% 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 90%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Tyler Park
Park
1 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
5,284 conserved acres
60% of Elwood’s land. Who manages Elwood’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Private owners4,992 ac
U.S. Forest Service178 ac
Town or city116 ac
State Conservation Area · 4,992 acNational Forest · 177 acLocal Park · 116 acConservation Easement · 1 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie State Conservation Area | Private owners | 4,992 | Restricted |
| Midewin Other National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 177 | Open |
| Erickson Park Local Park | Town or city | 70 | Open |
| O'Connor Park Local Park | Town or city | 38 | Open |
| Unknown Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Tyler Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Elwood
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Elwood
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Memorial Walk0.5 mi
Biking & sports
1.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.3 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
2Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Alternate Route 66, Wilmington to JolietStructure · listed 2006
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Elwood: 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) | 32 | 36 | 48 | 61 | 72 | 82 | 84 | 83 | 77 | 64 | 49 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.1 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 3.8 | 4.7 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 2.6 | 2.1 |
February is the driest month (1.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.7 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Elwood →
Next door
Elwood and its neighbors
Elwood has the second most mapped trails of the 2 towns around it. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elwood | 60% | 0.3 | 59 | 92% | A |
| Joliet | 6% | 0.2 | 15 | 95% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Elwood
Where can I hike in Elwood?
The longest trail networks: Tyler Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Elwood is conserved land?
60% 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 Elwood’s trails?
Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie and Tyler Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Elwood?
1.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.3 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Elwood?
29,541 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Elwood or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 309 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Elwood have?
Ahead of 90% 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 Elwood 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 →