Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
Managed by United States Forest Service
3,458 acres7.4 mi of trail
Group 63 TrailGroup 63 Spur Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailheadWebsite ↗
B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Jackson Township
25% of Jackson Township’s land is conserved: 5,758 acres
The biggest trail networks: Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie (7.4 mi). 124 acres are parks and preserves, 32 per 1,000 residents. 9.2 miles of mapped trail cross Jackson Township, 0.3 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 74% of U.S. towns · #259 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
25%
5,758 acres · of 36.2 sq mi of land
Trails
9.2 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
124 ac
32 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
62%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
6.9 mi
6.9 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Jackson Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Jackson Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Jackson Township is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns, #259 of 768 in Illinois. Conserved land holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Jackson Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land25% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (9 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land32 acres of park per 1,000 residents (124 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home62% 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 74%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 66%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B to 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 Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, with 7.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Tyler Park
Park
1 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
5,758 conserved acres
25% of Jackson Township’s land. Who manages Jackson Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Forest Service3,466 ac
Private owners2,167 ac
Town or city115 ac
Regional agency5 ac
State natural resources3 ac
National Forest · 3,466 acState Conservation Area · 2,167 acLocal Park · 121 acUnknown · 3 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midewin Other National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 3,466 | Open |
| Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie State Conservation Area | Private owners | 2,167 | Restricted |
| Erickson Park Local Park | Town or city | 71 | Open |
| O'Connor Park Local Park | Town or city | 38 | Open |
| Cedar Creek Park Local Park | Regional agency | 5 | Open |
| Unknown Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Miscellaneous property Unknown | State natural resources | 3 | Open |
| Tyler Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
Things to do
3 places to go in Jackson Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Jackson Township
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
3 named trails
Named trails
Open to bikes · 6.3 miHorses · 6.1 miUnpaved · 5.3 mi
Group 63 Trail1.4 mi
Group 63 Spur Trail0.8 mi
Memorial Walk0.5 mi
Biking & sports
6.9 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
6.9 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
2Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Jackson 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 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 32 | 36 | 48 | 61 | 72 | 82 | 84 | 83 | 77 | 64 | 49 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.1 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 3.8 | 4.8 | 4.5 | 4.2 | 4.0 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 2.6 | 2.1 |
February is the driest month (1.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.8 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Jackson Township →
Next door
Jackson Township and its neighbors
Jackson Township has the second most mapped trails of the 5 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Channahon Township14 miJackson Township9.2 miJoliet Township5.4 miFlorence Township2.6 miManhattan Township2.1 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson Township | 25% | 0.3 | 32 | 62% | B+ |
| Joliet Township | 3% | 0.2 | 8 | 91% | B− |
| Florence Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Manhattan Township | 4% | 0.1 | 18 | 72% | B− |
| Channahon Township | 32% | 0.4 | 164 | 93% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Jackson Township
Where can I hike in Jackson Township?
The longest trail networks: Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, 7.4 miles; Tyler Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Jackson Township is conserved land?
25% 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 Jackson Township’s trails?
Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie and Tyler Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Jackson Township?
6.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 6.9 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Jackson Township?
30,484 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Jackson Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 3,624 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Jackson Township have?
Ahead of 74% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #259 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 Jackson 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 →