Hennepin Canal Parkway State Park
Managed by Illinois Department of Natural Resources
234 acres1.8 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: Kepper66 · CC BY-SA 3.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Milan
Milan has 266 acres of parks, 53 for every 1,000 residents
93% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 10% of Milan’s land is conserved, about 409 acres. The biggest trail networks: Hennepin Canal Parkway State Park (1.8 mi), Camden Park (0.6 mi).
Ahead of 86% of U.S. towns · #127 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
10%
409 acres · of 6.3 sq mi of land
Trails
2.6 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
266 ac
53 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
93%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.6 mi
3.6 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Milan?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Milan have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Milan is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns, #127 of 768 in Illinois. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; park acres per resident rank highest, trail miles lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Milan’s overall grade.
Conserved land10% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (3 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4BPark land53 acres of park per 1,000 residents (266 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13A−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 86%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 84%
Water is 9% of Milan’s area (1 of 7 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 9%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− 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
The longest trail network is Hennepin Canal Parkway State Park, with 1.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Camden Park
Park
95 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Little League Park
Park
40 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 10 parks & preserves
Hennepin Canal Parkway State Park234 acres · 1.8 mi of trail · Illinois Department of Natural Resources
DirectionsCamden Park95 acres · 0.6 mi of trail
Mirror Lake56 acres
DirectionsLittle League Park40 acres
Smiths Park15 acres
DirectionsDickson Park6 acres
Pappas Park5 acres
Collinson Park3 acres
First Presbyterian Park3 acres
DirectionsShadow Wood Park1 acres
Who protects it
409 conserved acres
10% of Milan’s land. Water is left out: Milan has 6.3 square miles of land and 0.6 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Milan’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Private owners213 ac
Town or city96 ac
Other state land89 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits11 ac
Private Conservation · 213 acLocal Park · 98 acState Recreation Area · 89 acState Conservation Area · 9 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rock River - Carr Island Private Conservation | Private owners | 213 | Restricted |
| Hennepin Canal State Recreation Area | Other state land | 89 | Open |
| Camden Park Local Park | Town or city | 83 | Open |
| Beling Ecological Preserve State Conservation Area | Land trusts & nonprofits | 9 | Closed |
| Dickson Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Pappas Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Collinson Park Local Park | Land trusts & nonprofits | 3 | Open |
| West Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
Things to do
5 places to go in Milan
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Milan
Camden Park PlaygroundIn Camden Park
DirectionsPlus 3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Milan
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
2 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
3.6 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
3.6 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
8Baseball
4Basketball
2Softball
1Tennis
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 Milan
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) | 31 | 35 | 49 | 62 | 73 | 82 | 85 | 83 | 77 | 64 | 49 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 1.5 | 1.7 | 2.4 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 3.9 | 3.5 | 2.8 | 2.3 | 1.9 |
January is the driest month (1.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 5.0 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Milan →
Next door
Milan and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Rock Island15 miMoline11 miSouth Rock Island Township9.3 miBlackhawk Township6.9 miSouth Moline Township4.7 miMilan2.6 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milan | 10% | 0.4 | 53 | 93% | A |
| Rock Island | 9% | 0.8 | 27 | 85% | A− |
| Blackhawk Township | 11% | 0.2 | 94 | 80% | A− |
| South Rock Island Township | 15% | 1.3 | 28 | 70% | A |
| Moline | 5% | 0.7 | 15 | 78% | B+ |
| South Moline Township | 5% | 0.3 | 14 | 71% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Milan
Where can I hike in Milan?
The longest trail networks: Hennepin Canal Parkway State Park, 1.8 miles; Camden Park, 0.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Milan is conserved land?
10% 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 Milan’s trails?
Hennepin Canal Parkway State Park and Camden Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Milan?
3.6 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.6 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Milan?
11,296 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Milan or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 266 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Milan have?
Ahead of 86% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #127 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 Milan 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 →