Forsyth Park
Managed by Village of Forsyth
114 acres1.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Forsyth
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Forsyth
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 133 acres are parks and preserves, 38 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Forsyth Park (1.1 mi).
Ahead of 81% of U.S. towns · #184 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
68 acres · of 3.1 sq mi of land
Trails
1.4 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
133 ac
38 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
5.3 mi
5.3 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Forsyth?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Forsyth have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Forsyth is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns, #184 of 768 in Illinois. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park ranks highest, conserved land lowest.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Forsyth’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4BPark land38 acres of park per 1,000 residents (133 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to homeVirtually all 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 Forsyth Park, with 1.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
68 conserved acres
3% of Forsyth’s land. Who manages Forsyth’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city68 ac
Local Park · 68 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main Park Local Park | Town or city | 43 | Open |
| Forsyth Park Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| Oakland Park Local Park | Town or city | 7 | Open |
| Montezuma Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Eagle Ridge Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Schroll Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| Library Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
9 places to go in Forsyth
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Forsyth
9 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
1 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
5Baseball
4Pickleball
4Tennis
3Soccer
1Volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
August is the best month for walking in Forsyth
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) | 9.6 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.4 | 15.0 | 14.7 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 34 | 40 | 51 | 64 | 74 | 83 | 85 | 84 | 79 | 66 | 51 | 39 |
| Rain (in) | 2.1 | 2.0 | 2.7 | 4.0 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 4.0 | 3.3 | 3.1 | 3.3 | 3.0 | 2.3 |
February is the driest month (2.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 4.6 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Forsyth →
Next door
Forsyth and its neighbors
Forsyth 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forsyth | 3% | 0.5 | 38 | 99%+ | A− |
| Decatur | 8% | 0.4 | 34 | 92% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Forsyth
Where can I hike in Forsyth?
The longest trail networks: Forsyth Park, 1.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Forsyth 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 Forsyth’s trails?
Forsyth Park and Forsyth Pocket Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Forsyth?
5.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 5.3 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Forsyth?
5,022 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Forsyth or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 133 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Forsyth have?
Ahead of 81% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #184 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 Forsyth 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 →