Glenwood Woods South
Managed by Forest Preserve District of Cook County
82 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: AlphaBeta135 · CC BY 4.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Glenwood
99% of residents live within a half mile of a park in Glenwood
3.9 miles of mapped trail cross Glenwood, 1.2 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Glenwood Woods South (0.5 mi). 2% of Glenwood’s land is conserved, about 34 acres.
Ahead of 70% of U.S. towns · #295 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
34 acres · of 3.3 sq mi of land
Trails
3.9 mi
1.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
78 ac
9.1 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.7 mi
0.7 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Glenwood?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Glenwood have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Glenwood is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns, #295 of 768 in Illinois. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Glenwood’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%C+Trails1.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (4 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land9.1 acres of park per 1,000 residents (78 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13C+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 70%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 62%
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 Glenwood Woods South, with 0.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Veteran's Memorial Park
Managed by Bloom Township
52 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Glenwood Woods North
Managed by Forest Preserve District of Cook County
17 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Hickory Glen Park
Park
15 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 6 parks & preserves
Glenwood Woods South82 acres · 0.5 mi of trail · Forest Preserve District of Cook County
DirectionsGlenwood Woods North17 acres · 0.2 mi of trail · Forest Preserve District of Cook County
DirectionsVeteran's Memorial Park52 acres · Bloom Township
DirectionsHickory Glen Park15 acres
George Arquilla Park5 acres
Glenwood Woods Park2 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
34 conserved acres
2% of Glenwood’s land. Who manages Glenwood’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city33 ac
Local Park · 33 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hickory Glen Park Local Park | Town or city | 15 | Open |
| Veterans Memorial Park & Skyline Pool Local Park | Town or city | 10 | Open |
| George Arquilla Park Local Park | Town or city | 7 | Open |
| Forest Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
3 places to go in Glenwood
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Glenwood
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Picnic areas in Glenwood
Glenwood Woods-North Picnic Shelter Grove 1In Glenwood Woods North
DirectionsGlenwood Woods-South Picnic Shelter Grove 1In Glenwood Woods South
DirectionsBiking & sports
0.7 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.7 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
2Tennis
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Glenwood: 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 | 60 | 71 | 81 | 84 | 82 | 76 | 64 | 49 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.2 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 3.5 | 3.4 | 2.8 | 2.2 |
February is the driest month (2.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.4 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Glenwood →
Next door
Glenwood and its neighbors
Glenwood has the second most mapped trails of the 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glenwood | 2% | 1.2 | 9 | 99% | B+ |
| Chicago Heights | 3% | 0.3 | 8 | 97% | B |
| Lynwood | 2% | under 0.1 | 7 | 92% | C+ |
| Homewood | 5% | 1.0 | 18 | 99% | A |
| Thornton | 2% | under 0.1 | 12 | 99%+ | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Glenwood
Where can I hike in Glenwood?
The longest trail networks: Glenwood Woods South, 0.5 miles; Glenwood Woods North, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Glenwood 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 Glenwood’s trails?
Glenwood Woods South and Veteran's Memorial Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Glenwood?
0.7 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.7 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Glenwood?
10,691 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Glenwood or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 78 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Glenwood have?
Ahead of 70% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #295 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 Glenwood 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 →