Heritage Park
Park
103 acres2.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: User:Teemu08 · CC BY-SA 3.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Homer Glen
Homer Glen has 15 miles of mapped trails, 0.7 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: Heritage Park (2.1 mi), Messenger Woods Nature Preserve (1.9 mi). 5% of Homer Glen’s land is conserved, about 726 acres. 59% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 61% of U.S. towns · #403 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
726 acres · of 22.2 sq mi of land
Trails
15 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
276 ac
11 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
59%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
12 mi
12 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Homer Glen have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Homer Glen is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns, #403 of 768 in Illinois. Trail miles hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Homer Glen’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (15 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land11 acres of park per 1,000 residents (276 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to home59% 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 61%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 48%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to B. 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 Heritage Park, with 2.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Messenger Woods Nature Preserve
Managed by Forest Preserve District of Will County
407 acres1.9 mi of trail
Messenger Woods trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Fiddyment Creek Preserve
Managed by Forest Preserve District of Will County
272 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 17 parks & preserves
Heritage Park103 acres · 2.1 mi of trail
Messenger Woods Nature Preserve407 acres · 1.9 mi of trail · Forest Preserve District of Will County
DirectionsEdmond J. Sendra Park6 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
DirectionsErin Hills Park2 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsTown Center Park17 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Stonebridge Park5 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Evlyn's Gate North Park5 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Goreham Park3 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Fiddyment Creek Preserve272 acres · Forest Preserve District of Will County
Culver Park13 acres
DirectionsHomer Healing Garden5 acres
Yangas Park4 acres
Goodings Grove Park3 acres
DirectionsLamers Park3 acres
Hadley Valley Preserve1 acres · Forest Preserve District of Will County
Victoria Lake Park1 acres
Kingston Hills Park1 acres
Who protects it
726 conserved acres
5% of Homer Glen’s land. Who manages Homer Glen’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State conservation564 ac
Town or city295 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits115 ac
Private owners30 ac
County11 ac
Regional agency2 ac
Conservation Easement · 681 acLocal Park · 233 acUnknown · 46 acPrivate Conservation · 30 acState Conservation Area · 21 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 396 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 26 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heritage Park Local Park | Town or city | 105 | Open |
| Welter Farm Unknown | Town or city | 46 | Open |
| Messenger Woods Private Conservation | Private owners | 30 | Closed |
| Trantina Farm Park Local Park | Town or city | 30 | Open |
| Lamers Park Local Park | Town or city | 17 | Open |
| Trantina Farm Dog Park Local Park | Town or city | 16 | Open |
| Homer Township Sports Complex Local Park | Town or city | 15 | Open |
| Erin Hills Park Local Park | Town or city | 14 | Open |
| Culver Memorial Park Local Park | Town or city | 12 | Open |
| Homer Glen Marsh State Conservation Area | Town or city | 10 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
20 places to go in Homer Glen
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Homer Glen
Yangas PlaygroundIn Yangas Park
DirectionsPlus 17 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Homer Glen
Messenger Marsh Dog Park
DirectionsTrantina Dog Park
DirectionsTrails & water
2 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 1.9 mi
Spring Creek Greenway Trail3.4 mi
Messenger Woods trail1.8 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
12 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
12 mi
off-road bike paths
Spring Creek GreenwayBike route
3.7 miCourts & fields
12Baseball
6Tennis
5Basketball
5Pickleball
2Volleyball
1Football
1Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Stone ManorBuilding · listed 1980
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Homer Glen: 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) | 31 | 36 | 47 | 60 | 71 | 81 | 84 | 82 | 76 | 63 | 48 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 2.1 | 1.9 | 2.5 | 3.9 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 2.7 | 2.2 |
February is the driest month (1.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.6 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Homer Glen →
Next door
Homer Glen and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Lemont Township53 miOrland Township32 miHomer Township25 miOrland Park22 miHomer Glen15 miLockport12 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Homer Glen | 5% | 0.7 | 11 | 59% | B |
| Homer Township | 5% | 0.7 | 10 | 72% | B |
| Lockport | 7% | 1.0 | 16 | 99% | A |
| Orland Township | 10% | 0.9 | 13 | 99% | A |
| Orland Park | 5% | 1.0 | 14 | 98% | A− |
| Lemont Township | 3% | 2.6 | 9 | 88% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Homer Glen
Where can I hike in Homer Glen?
The longest trail networks: Heritage Park, 2.1 miles; Messenger Woods Nature Preserve, 1.9 miles; Edmond J. Sendra Park, 0.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Homer Glen is conserved land?
5% 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 Homer Glen’s trails?
Heritage Park and Messenger Woods Nature Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Homer Glen?
12 miles of bike routes are on the map: 12 of off-road paths. Named routes: Spring Creek Greenway.
Is there public land near Homer Glen?
16,637 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Homer Glen or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 322 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Homer Glen have?
Ahead of 61% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #403 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 Homer Glen 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 →