Photo: Etombari · CC BY-SA 4.0Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Highwood
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 6 acres are parks and preserves, 1.2 per 1,000 residents. 0.4 miles of mapped trail cross Highwood, 0.6 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 52% of U.S. towns · #490 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Highwood?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Highwood have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Highwood is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns, #490 of 768 in Illinois. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Everts Park, with 0.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Openlands Lakeshore Preserve
6 conserved acres
1% of Highwood’s land. Who manages Highwood’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Western Avenue Ball Field Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Everts Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
6 places to go in Highwood
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
6 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
2 lakes & rivers
1.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
The best walking months in Highwood: July to 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) | 9.4 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.2 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 32 | 35 | 45 | 56 | 67 | 77 | 82 | 81 | 74 | 62 | 48 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 1.9 | 1.8 | 2.2 | 3.8 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 3.7 | 3.8 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 2.5 | 2.1 |
February is the driest month (1.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 4.4 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Highwood →
Highwood 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highwood | 1% | 0.6 | 1 | 99%+ | B− |
| Highland Park | 10% | 2.6 | 24 | 99%+ | A+ |
| Lake Forest | 14% | 2.0 | 52 | 94% | A+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Highwood
Where can I hike in Highwood?
The longest trail networks: Everts Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Highwood is conserved land?
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 Highwood’s trails?
Everts Park and Openlands Lakeshore Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Highwood?
1.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.3 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Highwood?
11,469 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Highwood or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 6 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Highwood have?
Ahead of 52% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #490 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 Highwood neighbors.
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 →