Grant Woods Forest Preserve
Managed by Lake County Forest Preserves
43 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: AlphaBeta135 · CC BY 4.0COutdoors
Outdoors in Long Lake
Long Lake has 6 acres of parks, 1.7 for every 1,000 residents
0.1 miles of mapped trail cross Long Lake, 0.1 per square mile of land. 78% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 2% of Long Lake’s land is conserved, about 17 acres.
Ahead of 30% of U.S. towns · #655 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
17 acres · of 1.2 sq mi of land
Trails
0.1 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
6 ac
1.7 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
78%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.4 mi
1.4 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
3
1 beach · 1 boat launch
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Long Lake have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Long Lake is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #655 of 768 in Illinois. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Long Lake’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%C+Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4CPark land1.7 acres of park per 1,000 residents (6 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home78% 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 30%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 15%
Water is 34% of Long Lake’s area (1 of 2 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 2%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. 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.
Everbreeze Stanton Park
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Pickerel Point Park
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
17 conserved acres
2% of Long Lake’s land. Water is left out: Long Lake has 1.2 square miles of land and 0.6 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Long Lake’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State conservation12 ac
Regional agency5 ac
Unknown Easement · 12 acLocal Park · 5 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 12 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shaw Park Local Park | Regional agency | 2 | Open |
| Whitewood Park Local Park | Regional agency | 1 | Open |
| Everbreeze Stanton Park Local Park | Regional agency | 1 | Open |
Things to do
4 places to go in Long Lake
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Long Lake
1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Playgrounds in Long Lake
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Long Lake
Long Lake Car-Top Boat LaunchIn Grant Woods Forest Preserve
DirectionsTrails & water
3 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
1.4 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.4 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
2Basketball
1Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Long Lake: July to 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) | 9.4 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 30 | 34 | 45 | 58 | 69 | 79 | 83 | 81 | 74 | 62 | 47 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 1.8 | 1.7 | 2.2 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 2.4 | 2.0 |
February is the driest month (1.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.5 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Long Lake →
Next door
Long Lake and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long Lake | 2% | 0.1 | 2 | 78% | C |
| Round Lake Beach | 17% | 0.6 | 19 | 99%+ | A |
| Round Lake | 6% | 0.2 | 11 | 99% | B+ |
| Avon Township | 20% | 0.5 | 39 | 99%+ | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Long Lake
How much of Long Lake is conserved land?
2% 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 Long Lake’s trails?
Grant Woods Forest Preserve and Whitewood Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Long Lake?
1.4 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.4 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Long Lake?
23,725 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Long Lake or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 6 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Long Lake have?
Ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #655 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 Long Lake 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 →