Friends Creek Conservation Area
Managed by Macon County Conservation District
459 acres5.1 mi of trail
Sun TrailWoodland Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
BOutdoors
Outdoors in Friends Creek Township
Friends Creek Township has 544 acres of parks, 414 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Friends Creek Conservation Area (5.1 mi). 6.4 miles of mapped trail cross Friends Creek Township, 0.1 per square mile of land. 2% of Friends Creek Township’s land is conserved, about 708 acres.
Ahead of 57% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
708 acres · of 49.3 sq mi of land
Trails
6.4 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
544 ac
414 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
60%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Friends Creek Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Friends Creek Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Friends Creek Township is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Friends Creek Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%C+Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (6 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4CPark land414 acres of park per 1,000 residents (544 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13AParks close to home60% of residents within a half mile of a park · IL 88% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 57%
LessMore
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
The longest trail network is Friends Creek Conservation Area, with 5.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
708 conserved acres
2% of Friends Creek Township’s land. Who manages Friends Creek Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Regional agency520 ac
Regional Water Districts187 ac
Local Conservation Area · 520 acConservation Easement · 187 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 187 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friends Creek Conservation Area Local Conservation Area | Regional agency | 520 | Open |
Things to do
4 places to go in Friends Creek Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Friends Creek Township
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Campgrounds in Friends Creek Township
Friends Creek Camp GroundMacon County Conservation District
DirectionsPlus 1 campground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
3 named trails
Named trails
Sun Trail1.6 mi
Woodland Trail1.1 mi
Friends Creek Trail0.4 mi
Biking & 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
1Football
1Baseball
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 Friends Creek 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) | 9.6 | 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 | 39 | 51 | 64 | 74 | 83 | 86 | 84 | 79 | 66 | 51 | 39 |
| Rain (in) | 2.1 | 1.9 | 2.6 | 3.9 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 3.9 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 3.3 | 3.0 | 2.3 |
February is the driest month (1.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 86 °F). 4.5 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Friends Creek Township →
Next door
Friends Creek Township and its neighbors
Friends Creek Township has the second most mapped trails of the 5 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Willow Branch Township24 miFriends Creek Township6.4 miGoose Creek Township2.0 miMaroa Township0.1 miWhitmore Township0.0 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friends Creek Township | 2% | 0.1 | 414 | 60% | B |
| Willow Branch Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Maroa Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Whitmore Township | 3% | under 0.1 | 9 | 64% | C |
| Goose Creek Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Friends Creek Township
Where can I hike in Friends Creek Township?
The longest trail networks: Friends Creek Conservation Area, 5.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Friends Creek Township is conserved land?
2% 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 Friends Creek Township’s trails?
Friends Creek Conservation Area doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Friends Creek Township?
7,660 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Friends Creek Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 544 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Friends Creek Township have?
Ahead of 57% 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 Friends Creek 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 →