Manhattan Central Park
Managed by Manhtattan
7 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: AlphaBeta135 · CC BY 4.0C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Manhattan
Manhattan has 62 acres of parks, 5.6 for every 1,000 residents
81% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 1.1 miles of mapped trail cross Manhattan, 0.2 per square mile of land. 3% of Manhattan’s land is conserved, about 147 acres.
Ahead of 43% of U.S. towns · #557 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
147 acres · of 6.8 sq mi of land
Trails
1.1 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
62 ac
5.6 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
81%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
6.5 mi
6.5 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Manhattan?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Manhattan have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Manhattan is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns, #557 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 Manhattan’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land5.6 acres of park per 1,000 residents (62 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13CParks close to home81% 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 43%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 28%
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
The longest trail network is Manhattan Central Park, with 0.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Leighlinbridge Park
Park
2 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Foxford Park
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
147 conserved acres
3% of Manhattan’s land. Who manages Manhattan’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city78 ac
Regional agency52 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits19 ac
Unknown · 69 acLocal Park · 35 acLocal Recreation Area · 24 acConservation Easement · 19 acRecreation or Education Easement · 2 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unnamed Property Unknown | Town or city | 53 | Open |
| Wauponsee Glacial Trail 1 Local Recreation Area | Regional agency | 24 | Open |
| Foxford Subdivision Unknown | Town or city | 14 | Open |
| Central Park Local Park | Regional agency | 11 | Open |
| Lexington Park Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| Pirate Theme Playground Local Park | Regional agency | 8 | Open |
| Unknown Park Local Park | Regional agency | 4 | Open |
| Playground Local Park | Regional agency | 4 | Open |
| Century East Subdivision Unknown | Town or city | 2 | Open |
Things to do
5 places to go in Manhattan
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Manhattan
4 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Manhattan
1 dog park without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Biking & sports
6.5 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
6.5 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
5Baseball
2Pickleball
1Basketball
1Tennis
1Volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Manhattan: 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 | 81 | 84 | 82 | 76 | 64 | 49 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.2 | 1.9 | 2.4 | 3.8 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 2.6 | 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 Manhattan →
Questions about parks and trails in Manhattan
Where can I hike in Manhattan?
The longest trail networks: Manhattan Central Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Manhattan is conserved land?
3% 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 Manhattan’s trails?
Manhattan Central Park and Gustafson Grove don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Manhattan?
6.5 miles of bike routes are on the map: 6.5 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Manhattan?
25,984 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Manhattan or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 130 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Manhattan have?
Ahead of 43% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #557 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 Manhattan 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 →