Ferne Clyffe State Park
Managed by Illinois Department of Natural Resources
79 acres1.6 mi of trail
Boy Scout TrailRiver To River TrailRebman TrailHawk's Cave Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailhead
A+Outdoors
Outdoors in Goreville
More than half of Goreville’s land is conserved: 100%
100% of Goreville’s land is conserved, about 1,723 acres. 1,718 acres are parks and preserves, 1,390 per 1,000 residents. Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park.
Among the top 1% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
100%
1,723 acres · of 2.7 sq mi of land
Trails
1.9 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
1,718 ac
1,390 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Goreville?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Goreville have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Goreville is among the top 1% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; conserved land ranks highest, trail miles lowest.
A+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Goreville’s overall grade.
Conserved land100% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%A+Trails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land1,390 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,718 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13A+Parks 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)Among the top 1%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would still be 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 Ferne Clyffe State Park, with 1.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
1,723 conserved acres
100% of Goreville’s land. Who manages Goreville’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Private owners1,639 ac
State natural resources89 ac
U.S. Forest Service1 ac
Private Conservation · 1,639 acState Conservation Area · 89 acNational Forest · 1 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shawnee National Forest Private Conservation | Private owners | 1,639 | Open |
| Ferne Clyffe State Park State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 89 | Open |
| Shawnee Purchase Unit National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 1 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Goreville
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Goreville
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Picnic areas in Goreville
1 picnic area without a name on the map.
Trails & water
5 named trails
Named trails
Unpaved · 1.6 mi
Boy Scout Trail0.5 mi
River To River Trail0.4 mi
Rebman Trail0.4 mi
Hawk's Cave Trail0.3 mi
Big Rocky Hollow Trail0.1 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
3Baseball
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
June is the best month for walking in Goreville
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) | 9.8 | 10.8 | 11.9 | 13.1 | 14.2 | 14.7 | 14.5 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.1 | 9.6 |
| High (°F) | 41 | 46 | 56 | 68 | 76 | 84 | 87 | 86 | 80 | 69 | 55 | 45 |
| Rain (in) | 3.6 | 3.4 | 4.7 | 5.6 | 5.2 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 3.2 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 4.4 | 3.8 |
August is the driest month (3.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 5.6 inches fall in April, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Goreville →
Questions about parks and trails in Goreville
Where can I hike in Goreville?
The longest trail networks: Ferne Clyffe State Park, 1.6 miles; Goreville City Park, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Goreville is conserved land?
100% 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 Goreville’s trails?
Ferne Clyffe State Park and Goreville City Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Goreville?
117,111 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Goreville or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,719 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Goreville have?
Among the top 1% 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 Goreville 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 →