Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park
Managed by Governors State University
70 acres1.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: Legimet · CC BY-SA 4.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Monee Township
5% of Monee Township’s land is conserved: 1,226 acres
The biggest trail networks: Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park (1.7 mi), Monee Reservoir (1.6 mi). 79% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 14 miles of mapped trail cross Monee Township, 0.4 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 64% of U.S. towns · #360 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
1,226 acres · of 35.8 sq mi of land
Trails
14 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
210 ac
14 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
79%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.8 mi
2.8 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
1 boat launch
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Monee Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Monee Township is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns, #360 of 768 in Illinois. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park ranks highest, park acres per resident lowest.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Monee Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (14 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4BPark land14 acres of park per 1,000 residents (210 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to home79% 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 64%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 53%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B 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 Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park, with 1.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Monee Reservoir
Managed by Forest Preserve District of Will County
250 acres1.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Thorn Creek Headwaters Preserve
Managed by Forest Preserve District of Will County
422 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Racoon Grove Nature Reserve
Managed by Forest Preserve District of Will County
221 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 9 parks & preserves
Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park70 acres · 1.7 mi of trail · Governors State University
DirectionsMonee Reservoir250 acres · 1.6 mi of trail · Forest Preserve District of Will County
DirectionsRacoon Grove Nature Reserve221 acres · 0.2 mi of trail · Forest Preserve District of Will County
DirectionsShabbona Park4 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Thorn Creek Headwaters Preserve422 acres · Forest Preserve District of Will County
Palmer Park33 acres
DirectionsRiegel Farm Park11 acres
Craig Park6 acres
Firemens Park5 acres
Who protects it
1,226 conserved acres
5% of Monee Township’s land. Who manages Monee Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State conservation1,090 ac
Town or city124 ac
Private owners14 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits1 ac
County1 ac
Conservation Easement · 1,090 acLocal Park · 118 acPrivate Conservation · 14 acState Conservation Area · 5 acLocal Other or Unknown · 2 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1,086 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pine Lake Local Park | Town or city | 42 | Open |
| Palmer Park Local Park | Town or city | 28 | Open |
| Unknown Park Local Park | County | 18 | Open |
| Freemens Park Local Park | Town or city | 16 | Open |
| Raccoon Grove Private Conservation | Private owners | 14 | Closed |
| Riegel Farm Local Park | Town or city | 8 | Open |
| Craig Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Monee Railroad Prairie State Conservation Area | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Hickok Aquatic Center Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Brookside Lots Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 1 | Open |
Things to do
7 places to go in Monee Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Monee Township
6 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Monee Township
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
1 named trail and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 8.4 mi
Applied Employee Walkway1.9 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
2.8 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.8 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
4Baseball
2Football
2Tennis
1Soccer
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Monee Township: 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) | 31 | 36 | 48 | 61 | 71 | 81 | 84 | 82 | 76 | 63 | 49 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 2.3 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 4.1 | 3.5 | 3.4 | 2.7 | 2.2 |
February is the driest month (2.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.6 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Monee Township →
Next door
Monee Township and its neighbors
Monee Township has the most mapped trails of the 6 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Monee Township14 miGreen Garden Township12 miCrete Township10 miPark Forest3.1 miRichton Park1.6 miWill Township0.7 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monee Township | 5% | 0.4 | 14 | 79% | B |
| Park Forest | 12% | 0.6 | 12 | 94% | A− |
| Richton Park | 3% | 0.4 | 8 | 99% | B |
| Will Township | under 1% | under 0.1 | 3 | 38% | D |
| Green Garden Township | 1% | 0.3 | 34 | 3% | C |
| Crete Township | 3% | 0.2 | 9 | 57% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Monee Township
Where can I hike in Monee Township?
The longest trail networks: Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park, 1.7 miles; Monee Reservoir, 1.6 miles; Racoon Grove Nature Reserve, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Monee Township is conserved land?
5% 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 Monee Township’s trails?
Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park and Monee Reservoir don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Monee Township?
2.8 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.8 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Monee Township?
6,639 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Monee Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 211 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Monee Township have?
Ahead of 64% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #360 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 Monee 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 →