Goose Lake Prairie State Natural Area
Managed by Illinois Department of Natural Resources
2,532 acres13.1 mi of trail
Prairie View TrailSagashka TrailTall Grass Nature TrailOverview Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
White and Company's Goose Lake Tile Works · Photo: Teemu08 · CC BY-SA 3.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Goose Lake Township
Goose Lake Township has 1,624 acres of parks, 1,388 for every 1,000 residents
24% of Goose Lake Township’s land is conserved, about 3,888 acres. 23 miles of mapped trail cross Goose Lake Township, 0.9 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Goose Lake Prairie State Natural Area (13.1 mi), Heidecke Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area (2.8 mi).
Ahead of 90% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
24%
3,888 acres · of 24.9 sq mi of land
Trails
23 mi
0.9 per sq mi of land
Park land
1,624 ac
1,388 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
45%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
4
5 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Goose Lake Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Room to roam1,388 acres of park per 1,000 residents; the typical U.S. town has 13.Land that stays wild24% of the land is conserved; a typical Illinois town, 4%.A trail town0.9 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 79% of U.S. towns.History along the way3 places on the National Register.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Goose Lake Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Goose Lake Township is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Goose Lake Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land24% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.9 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (23 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land1,388 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,624 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home45% of residents within a half mile of a park · IL 88% · U.S. 72%C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 90%
LessMore
Water is 17% of Goose Lake Township’s area (5 of 30 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 20%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− 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 Goose Lake Prairie State Natural Area, with 13.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Heidecke Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area
Managed by Illinois Department of Natural Resources
2,086 acres2.8 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it
3,888 conserved acres
24% of Goose Lake Township’s land. Water is left out: Goose Lake Township has 24.9 square miles of land and 5.0 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Goose Lake Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources3,161 ac
State conservation2,269 ac
County725 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits1 ac
State Conservation Area · 3,162 acConservation Easement · 2,269 acLocal Park · 725 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 2 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 7 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goose Lake Prairie State Natural Area State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 3,161 | Open |
| Park in Grundy County Local Park | County | 725 | Open |
| Short Pioneer Cemetery Prairie State Conservation Area | Land trusts & nonprofits | 1 | Open |
Things to do
6 places to go in Goose Lake Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Goose Lake Township
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in Goose Lake Township
5 boat launches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
5 named trails and 4 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 13.8 mi
Prairie View Trail1.3 mi
Sagashka Trail1.2 mi
Tall Grass Nature Trail0.9 mi
Overview Trail0.8 mi
Marsh Loop0.4 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
History along the way
History →3 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The best walking months in Goose Lake Township: 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 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.1 | 14.9 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 32 | 36 | 49 | 62 | 73 | 82 | 85 | 83 | 78 | 65 | 49 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.1 | 1.8 | 2.3 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 4.4 | 4.1 | 3.8 | 3.3 | 3.1 | 2.5 | 2.0 |
February is the driest month (1.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 4.7 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Goose Lake Township →
Next door
Goose Lake Township and its neighbors
Goose Lake Township has the most mapped trails of the 6 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Goose Lake Township23 miWilmington Township12 miAux Sable Township2.9 miWauponsee Township1.8 miMorris Township1.7 miFelix Township0.6 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goose Lake Township | 24% | 0.9 | 1,388 | 45% | A |
| Wauponsee Township | 5% | 0.1 | 307 | 59% | B |
| Aux Sable Township | 1% | 0.1 | 19 | 86% | B− |
| Felix Township | under 1% | 0.1 | 4 | 72% | C− |
| Morris Township | 7% | 0.5 | 25 | 99%+ | A |
| Wilmington 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 Goose Lake Township
Where can I hike in Goose Lake Township?
The longest trail networks: Goose Lake Prairie State Natural Area, 13.1 miles; Heidecke Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area, 2.8 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Goose Lake Township is conserved land?
24% 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 Goose Lake Township’s trails?
Goose Lake Prairie State Natural Area and Heidecke Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Goose Lake Township?
26,141 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Goose Lake Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,624 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Goose Lake Township have?
Ahead of 90% 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 Goose Lake 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 →