Charley Brown Park
Park
109 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
COutdoors
Outdoors in Harter Township
Harter Township has 148 acres of parks, 25 for every 1,000 residents
4.2 miles of mapped trail cross Harter Township, 0.1 per square mile of land. 57% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 33% of U.S. towns · #629 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
101 acres · of 55.8 sq mi of land
Trails
4.2 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
148 ac
25 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
57%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Harter Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Harter Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Harter Township is ahead of 33% of U.S. towns, #629 of 768 in Illinois. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Harter Township’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%C−Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (4 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4CPark land25 acres of park per 1,000 residents (148 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home57% 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 33%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 18%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Kiwanis Park
Park
5 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Library park
Park
2 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
101 conserved acres
under 1% of Harter Township’s land. Who manages Harter Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources94 ac
State conservation92 ac
Town or city7 ac
State Conservation Area · 94 acConservation Easement · 92 acLocal Park · 7 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hanging Rock Sandstone Cliff State Natural Area State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 94 | Open |
| Flora Kiwanis Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Flora Library & Veterans War Memorial Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
3 places to go in Harter Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Harter Township
Flora Swimming PoolIn Charley Brown Park
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Harter Township
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
1 named trail and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 1.5 mi
Golf Cart Trail0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
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
6Tennis
5Baseball
1Football
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The walking year in Harter 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) | 9.7 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 14.9 | 14.6 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| High (°F) | 38 | 44 | 54 | 66 | 76 | 84 | 87 | 86 | 80 | 69 | 54 | 43 |
| Rain (in) | 3.3 | 2.5 | 3.8 | 5.0 | 5.2 | 5.0 | 4.1 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 3.1 |
February is the driest month (2.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 5.2 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Harter Township →
Next door
Harter Township and its neighbors
Harter Township has the second most mapped trails of the 6 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Keith Township5.9 miHarter Township4.2 miStanford Township2.6 miSonger Township2.0 miXenia Township1.6 miLouisville Township1.4 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harter Township | under 1% | 0.1 | 25 | 57% | C |
| Songer Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Louisville Township | under 1% | under 0.1 | 5 | 54% | D |
| Stanford Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Keith Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Xenia 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 Harter Township
How much of Harter Township is conserved land?
under 1% 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 Harter Township’s trails?
Charley Brown Park and Kiwanis Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Harter Township?
3,482 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Harter Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 148 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Harter Township have?
Ahead of 33% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #629 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 Harter 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 →