Heritage Park
Park
103 acres2.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
BOutdoors
Outdoors in Homer Township
Homer Township has 25 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), Willow Walk Park (0.7 mi). 5% of Homer Township’s land is conserved, about 1,097 acres. 72% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 64% of U.S. towns · #365 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
1,097 acres · of 36.0 sq mi of land
Trails
25 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
425 ac
10 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
72%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
22 mi
22 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
5
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Homer Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Homer Township is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns, #365 of 768 in Illinois. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Homer Township’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 (25 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land10 acres of park per 1,000 residents (425 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to home72% 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 64%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 53%
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
449 acres1.9 mi of trail
Messenger Woods trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 28 parks & preserves
Heritage Park103 acres · 2.1 mi of trail
Messenger Woods Nature Preserve449 acres · 1.9 mi of trail · Forest Preserve District of Will County
DirectionsWillow Walk Park12 acres · 0.7 mi of trail
DirectionsEdmond J. Sendra Park7 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
DirectionsEvlyn's Gate North Park4 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Town Center Park17 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Stonebridge Park5 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Goreham Park4 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Erin Hills Park1 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsHadley Valley Preserve288 acres · Forest Preserve District of Will County
DirectionsFiddyment Creek Preserve271 acres · Forest Preserve District of Will County
Lower Spring Creek County Forest Preserve23 acres
Morris Park18 acres
DirectionsCulver Park12 acres
DirectionsKaren Springs Park7 acres
Victoria Lake Park6 acres
Homer Healing Garden5 acres
Oak Creek Park5 acres
DirectionsYangas Park4 acres
Goodings Grove Park3 acres
DirectionsLamers Park3 acres
Ridge Park3 acres
Red Oaks Park3 acres
Parker Ridge Park1 acres
Victoria Crossing Park1 acres
Cedar Park1 acres
Parkside Estates Park1 acres
Kingston Hills Park1 acres
Who protects it
1,097 conserved acres
5% of Homer Township’s land. Who manages Homer Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State conservation580 ac
Town or city461 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits221 ac
Regional agency82 ac
Private owners42 ac
County13 ac
Conservation Easement · 803 acLocal Park · 303 acUnknown · 190 acPrivate Conservation · 42 acLocal Resource Management Area · 33 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 507 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 46 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 |
| Purdy Farm Unknown | Town or city | 83 | Open |
| Paul Farm Unknown | Town or city | 54 | Open |
| Welter Farm Unknown | Town or city | 46 | Open |
| Messenger Woods Private Conservation | Private owners | 42 | Closed |
| Trantina Farm Park Local Park | Town or city | 30 | Open |
| HVP Hadley Valley 1 Local Resource Management Area | Regional agency | 23 | Open |
| Morris Park Local Park | Town or city | 17 | Open |
| Homer Township Sports Complex Local Park | Town or city | 17 | Open |
| Lamers Park Local Park | Town or city | 17 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
39 places to go in Homer Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Homer Township
Oak Creek PlaygroundIn Oak Creek Park
DirectionsYangas PlaygroundIn Yangas Park
Directions37 playgrounds are on OpenStreetMap in all; the list shows named ones from the first 30.
Dog parks in Homer Township
Messenger Marsh Dog Park
DirectionsTrantina Dog Park
DirectionsTrails & water
3 named trails and 5 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 0.5 miUnpaved · 1.9 mi
Spring Creek Greenway Trail3.4 mi
Messenger Woods trail1.8 mi
Michael C Oliveri Memorial Trail0.5 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
22 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
22 mi
off-road bike paths
Spring Creek GreenwayBike route
3.7 miHeroes Trail SystemBike route
0.5 miCourts & fields
16Baseball
9Basketball
6Tennis
6Pickleball
5Soccer
3Volleyball
2Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Homer 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 | 10.5 | 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 Township →
Next door
Homer Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Lemont Township53 miOrland Township32 miHomer Township25 miLockport Township24 miOrland Park22 miHomer Glen15 miNew Lenox Township3.9 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Homer Township | 5% | 0.7 | 10 | 72% | B |
| Homer Glen | 5% | 0.7 | 11 | 59% | B |
| Orland Township | 10% | 0.9 | 13 | 99% | A |
| Lockport Township | 7% | 0.7 | 19 | 91% | A− |
| Lemont Township | 3% | 2.6 | 9 | 88% | B+ |
| Orland Park | 5% | 1.0 | 14 | 98% | A− |
| New Lenox Township | 8% | 0.1 | 35 | 89% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Homer Township
Where can I hike in Homer Township?
The longest trail networks: Heritage Park, 2.1 miles; Messenger Woods Nature Preserve, 1.9 miles; Willow Walk Park, 0.7 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 Township 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 Township’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 Township?
22 miles of bike routes are on the map: 22 of off-road paths. Named routes: Spring Creek Greenway and Heroes Trail System.
Is there public land near Homer Township?
17,834 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Homer Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 718 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Homer Township have?
Ahead of 64% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #365 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 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 →