Marshall State Fish and Wildlife Area
Managed by Illinois Department of Natural Resources
42 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: ProfDEH · CC BY-SA 3.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Lacon
6% of Lacon’s land is conserved, and virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 69 acres are parks and preserves, 36 per 1,000 residents. 6% of Lacon’s land is conserved, about 60 acres.
Ahead of 80% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
6%
60 acres · of 1.6 sq mi of land
Trails
0.3 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
69 ac
36 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Lacon?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Lacon have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Lacon is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Lacon’s overall grade.
Conserved land6% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land36 acres of park per 1,000 residents (69 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · IL 88% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 80%
LessMore
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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Johnson's Grove Park
Park
20 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Lacon Park
Park
2 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
60 conserved acres
6% of Lacon’s land. Who manages Lacon’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources38 ac
Town or city22 ac
State Conservation Area · 38 acLocal Park · 22 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marshall State Fish and Wildlife Area State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 38 | Open |
| Lacon Park District Local Park | Town or city | 20 | Open |
| Lacon Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Lacon
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in Lacon
Lacon Public Access
DirectionsPlus 1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Biking & 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
2Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Lacon: August 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 | 15.1 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 33 | 37 | 50 | 63 | 74 | 83 | 86 | 84 | 78 | 65 | 50 | 38 |
| Rain (in) | 1.8 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 3.7 | 3.4 | 3.0 | 2.5 | 2.1 |
February is the driest month (1.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 86 °F). 4.7 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Lacon →
Questions about parks and trails in Lacon
How much of Lacon is conserved land?
6% 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 Lacon’s trails?
Marshall State Fish and Wildlife Area and Johnson's Grove Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Lacon?
9,445 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Lacon or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 69 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Lacon have?
Ahead of 80% 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 Lacon 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 →