Kishwaukee River State Fish and Wildlife Area
Managed by Illinois Department of Natural Resources
13 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Photo: TheCatalyst31 · CC BY-SA 4.0B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Kirkland
Kirkland has 11 acres of parks, 7.1 for every 1,000 residents
93% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 1% of Kirkland’s land is conserved, about 11 acres. 0.4 miles of mapped trail cross Kirkland, 0.3 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 49% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
11 acres · of 1.3 sq mi of land
Trails
0.4 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
11 ac
7.1 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
93%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Kirkland?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Kirkland have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Kirkland is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Kirkland’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%C+Trails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land7.1 acres of park per 1,000 residents (11 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home93% of residents within a half mile of a park · IL 88% · U.S. 72%A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 49%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
11 conserved acres
1% of Kirkland’s land. Who manages Kirkland’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city11 ac
Local Park · 11 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin Township Park Local Park | Town or city | 11 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Kirkland
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Kirkland
Hiawatha Elementary Playground
DirectionsBiking & 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
5Baseball
1Football
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
September is the best month for walking in Kirkland
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) | 29 | 34 | 46 | 60 | 71 | 80 | 84 | 82 | 75 | 62 | 47 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 1.7 | 1.7 | 2.2 | 3.7 | 4.4 | 5.0 | 3.9 | 3.9 | 3.4 | 2.9 | 2.4 | 1.9 |
February is the driest month (1.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 5.0 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Kirkland →
Questions about parks and trails in Kirkland
How much of Kirkland 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 Kirkland’s trails?
Kishwaukee River State Fish and Wildlife Area and Potowatomi Forest Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Kirkland?
4,055 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Kirkland or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 11 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Kirkland have?
Ahead of 49% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 Kirkland 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 →