Douglas E Wade Prairie
Managed by Prairie Preservation Society of Ogle County
12 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
COutdoors
Outdoors in Marion Township
Marion Township has 26 miles of mapped trails, 0.6 for every square mile of land
6 acres are parks and preserves, 1.5 per 1,000 residents. 27% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 2% of Marion Township’s land is conserved, about 465 acres.
Ahead of 28% of U.S. towns · #667 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
465 acres · of 44.9 sq mi of land
Trails
26 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
6 ac
1.5 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
27%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.1 mi
0.8 mi lanes · 1.3 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Marion Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Marion Township is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns, #667 of 768 in Illinois. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Marion Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%C+Trails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (26 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land1.5 acres of park per 1,000 residents (6 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home27% of residents within a half mile of a park · IL 88% · U.S. 72%C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 28%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 13%
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.
Who protects it
465 conserved acres
2% of Marion Township’s land. Who manages Marion Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Regional agency415 ac
State conservation305 ac
Private owners20 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits12 ac
State natural resources10 ac
Town or city5 ac
State Conservation Area · 320 acConservation Easement · 310 acUnknown · 107 acPrivate Historic or Cultural · 15 acLocal Park · 5 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 9 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 15 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jarrett Prairie Nature Preserve State Conservation Area | Regional agency | 308 | Closed |
| Stone Quarry Recreation Area Unknown | Regional agency | 75 | Open |
| Heritage Farm Museum Unknown | Regional agency | 31 | Open |
| Byron Dragway Prairie Natural Heritage Landmark Private Historic or Cultural | Private owners | 15 | Closed |
| Douglas E. Wade Prairie State Conservation Area | Land trusts & nonprofits | 12 | Open |
| Bicentennial Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Nardi Hills State Other or Unknown | State natural resources | 5 | Unknown |
| Jarrett Prairie Private Conservation | Private owners | 4 | Closed |
| Byron Dragway Prairie Private Conservation | Private owners | 1 | Closed |
Things to do
2 places to go in Marion Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Marion Township
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Fishing spots in Marion Township
Handicap Fishing Pier
DirectionsTrails & water
5 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Horses · 1.2 miUnpaved · 1.0 mi
Prairie South Trail1.4 mi
Four Hills Trail0.8 mi
Loop Trail0.4 mi
Coneflower Trail0.3 mi
3 Oaks Trail0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
2.1 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.8 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
1.3 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
4Tennis
2Basketball
1Skate park
1Soccer
1Baseball
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 Marion Township
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 | 47 | 60 | 71 | 81 | 84 | 82 | 76 | 63 | 47 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 1.6 | 1.7 | 2.4 | 3.8 | 4.4 | 5.2 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.6 | 2.9 | 2.4 | 2.0 |
January is the driest month (1.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 5.2 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Marion Township →
Next door
Marion Township and its neighbors
Marion Township has the second most mapped trails of the 6 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Rockford Township51 miMarion Township26 miRockvale Township20 miByron Township12 miScott Township4.7 miPine Rock Township1.7 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marion Township | 2% | 0.6 | 2 | 27% | C |
| Byron Township | 3% | 0.3 | 45 | 65% | B |
| Pine Rock Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Scott Township | under 1% | 0.1 | 19 | 59% | C |
| Rockvale Township | 6% | 0.6 | 299 | 34% | B+ |
| Rockford Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Marion Township
How much of Marion Township 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 Marion Township’s trails?
Douglas E Wade Prairie doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Marion Township?
2.1 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.8 of painted or protected lanes and 1.3 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Marion Township?
10,104 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Marion Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 114 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Marion Township have?
Ahead of 28% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #667 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 Marion 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 →