Heritage Knolls Park
Park
5 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Zarka Khalid · CC BY-SA 4.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Frankfort
5% of Frankfort’s land is conserved, and 99% of residents live within a half mile of a park
530 acres are parks and preserves, 26 per 1,000 residents. 5% of Frankfort’s land is conserved, about 508 acres. 2.1 miles of mapped trail cross Frankfort, 0.1 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 71% of U.S. towns · #287 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
508 acres · of 15.6 sq mi of land
Trails
2.1 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
530 ac
26 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
21 mi
21 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Frankfort?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Frankfort have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Frankfort is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns, #287 of 768 in Illinois. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Frankfort’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4CPark land26 acres of park per 1,000 residents (530 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home99% 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 71%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 63%
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 Heritage Knolls Park, with 0.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Sauk Trail Reservoir
Managed by Forest Preserve District of Will County
243 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 17 parks & preserves
Heritage Knolls Park5 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Jackson Creek Park20 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsLakeview Estates North Park2 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Breidert Green Park2 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsSauk Trail Reservoir243 acres · Forest Preserve District of Will County
Commissioners Park51 acres
DirectionsMain Park29 acres
DirectionsHickory Creek Preserve9 acres · Forest Preserve District of Will County
Windy Hill Park9 acres
Sandalwood Park7 acres
DirectionsTimbers Edge Park6 acres
Michelle Bingham Park5 acres
Indian Boundary Park5 acres
Hunters Woods4 acres · Forest Preserve District of Will County
Stone Creek Park3 acres
Jackson Creek Preserve2 acres · Forest Preserve District of Will County
Lincoln Meadows Park2 acres
Who protects it
508 conserved acres
5% of Frankfort’s land. Who manages Frankfort’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Regional agency453 ac
Town or city53 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits1 ac
Local Park · 278 acLocal Conservation Area · 224 acUnknown · 5 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sauk Trail Reservoir Local Conservation Area | Regional agency | 224 | Open |
| Commissioners Park Local Park | Regional agency | 50 | Open |
| Lakeview Estates North Park Local Park | Regional agency | 25 | Open |
| Main Park Local Park | Regional agency | 23 | Open |
| Jackson Creek Park Local Park | Regional agency | 21 | Open |
| Lakeview Estates South Park Local Park | Regional agency | 19 | Open |
| Unknown Park Local Park | Town or city | 17 | Open |
| Sara Springs Park Local Park | Regional agency | 16 | Open |
| Brookmeadow Park Local Park | Regional agency | 13 | Open |
| Roy And Dorothy Janssen Park Local Park | Regional agency | 10 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
10 places to go in Frankfort
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Frankfort
10 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
1 named trail and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
LW East0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
21 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
21 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
16Baseball
4Basketball
4Tennis
2Volleyball
1Skate park
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Frankfort: 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 | 10.5 | 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 | 71 | 81 | 84 | 82 | 76 | 63 | 49 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 2.2 | 1.9 | 2.4 | 3.9 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 3.5 | 3.4 | 2.7 | 2.2 |
February is the driest month (1.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.6 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Frankfort →
Next door
Frankfort and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Frankfort Township22 miTinley Park13 miGreen Garden Township12 miMokena5.3 miNew Lenox Township3.9 miFrankfort2.1 miRichton Park1.6 miFrankfort Square0.6 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frankfort | 5% | 0.1 | 26 | 99% | B+ |
| Frankfort Square | 11% | 0.2 | 20 | 99%+ | A− |
| Tinley Park | 4% | 0.8 | 10 | 93% | B+ |
| Richton Park | 3% | 0.4 | 8 | 99% | B |
| Mokena | 6% | 0.6 | 16 | 96% | A− |
| Frankfort Township | 6% | 0.6 | 20 | 98% | A− |
| Green Garden Township | 1% | 0.3 | 34 | 3% | C |
| New Lenox Township | 8% | 0.1 | 35 | 89% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Frankfort
Where can I hike in Frankfort?
The longest trail networks: Heritage Knolls Park, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Frankfort 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 Frankfort’s trails?
Heritage Knolls Park and Sauk Trail Reservoir don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Frankfort?
21 miles of bike routes are on the map: 21 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Frankfort?
12,206 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Frankfort or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 536 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Frankfort have?
Ahead of 71% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #287 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 Frankfort 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 →