Heritage Canyon Park
Nature preserve
14 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto Canyon Parking
Photo: Boscophotos · CC BY-SA 3.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Fulton
5% of Fulton’s land is conserved, and virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. The biggest trail networks: Heritage Canyon Park (0.5 mi). 1.6 miles of mapped trail cross Fulton, 0.7 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 82% of U.S. towns · #167 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
76 acres · of 2.3 sq mi of land
Trails
1.6 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
65 ac
17 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.5 mi
3.5 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Fulton?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Fulton have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Fulton is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns, #167 of 768 in Illinois. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park ranks highest, park acres per resident lowest.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Fulton’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land17 acres of park per 1,000 residents (65 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13BParks 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 82%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 78%
Water is 16% of Fulton’s area (0 of 3 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 4%.
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 Canyon Park, with 0.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Pleasure Park
Park
5 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 8 parks & preserves
Heritage Canyon Park14 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
DirectionsDen Besten Park2 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsDrives Park16 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsPleasure Park5 acres
Kiwanis Park4 acres
DirectionsCattail Park3 acres
DirectionsSchool Park2 acres
Andresen Nature Center1 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
76 conserved acres
5% of Fulton’s land. Water is left out: Fulton has 2.3 square miles of land and 0.5 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Fulton’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city62 ac
Army Corps of Engineers12 ac
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service1 ac
Local Park · 62 acRecreation Management Area · 12 acNational Wildlife Refuge · 1 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kiwanis Park Local Park | Town or city | 31 | Open |
| Drivers Park Local Park | Town or city | 18 | Open |
| Ms Rv Pools 11-22 Recreation Area Recreation Management Area | Army Corps of Engineers | 12 | Open |
| Pleasure Park Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| School Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Den Besten Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife And Fish Refuge National Wildlife Refuge | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 1 | Restricted |
Things to do
5 places to go in Fulton
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Fulton
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Fulton
2 boat launches without a name on the map.
Biking & sports
3.5 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
3.5 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
7Baseball
4Tennis
1Basketball
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The walking year in Fulton
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) | 9.4 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 30 | 35 | 48 | 61 | 72 | 81 | 84 | 82 | 76 | 63 | 48 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 1.5 | 1.8 | 2.5 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 5.0 | 4.1 | 3.9 | 4.0 | 2.8 | 2.4 | 2.0 |
January is the driest month (1.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 5.0 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Fulton →
Next door
Fulton and its neighbors
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fulton | 5% | 0.7 | 17 | 99%+ | A− |
| Fulton Township | 25% | 0.3 | 22 | 89% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Fulton
Where can I hike in Fulton?
The longest trail networks: Heritage Canyon Park, 0.5 miles; Drives Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Fulton 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 Fulton’s trails?
Heritage Canyon Park and Drives Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Fulton?
3.5 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.5 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Fulton?
10,947 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Fulton or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 78 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Fulton have?
Ahead of 82% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #167 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 Fulton 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 →