Saratoga Park
Park
9 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: TCP04 · CC BY 4.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Morris
Morris has 195 acres of parks, 13 for every 1,000 residents
91% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 2% of Morris’ land is conserved, about 166 acres. 3.0 miles of mapped trail cross Morris, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 55% of U.S. towns · #459 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
166 acres · of 12.7 sq mi of land
Trails
3.0 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
195 ac
13 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
91%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.6 mi
3.6 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
2 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Morris?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Morris have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Morris is ahead of 55% of U.S. towns, #459 of 768 in Illinois. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Morris’ overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%C+Trails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (3 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land13 acres of park per 1,000 residents (195 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to home91% 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 55%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 40%
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 Saratoga Park, with 0.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Gebhard Woods State Park
Managed by Illinois Department of Natural Resources
49 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto Gebhard Woods State ParkWebsite ↗
West Side Park
Park
10 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 12 parks & preserves
Saratoga Park9 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
Gebhard Woods State Park49 acres · 0.3 mi of trail · Illinois Department of Natural Resources
DirectionsWest Side Park10 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
William G. Stratton State Park13 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · Illinois Department of Natural Resources
DirectionsCanalport Park3 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsGoold Park15 acres
DirectionsKiwanis Park6 acres
Lions Park4 acres
McKinley Park3 acres
Goodwill Park2 acres
DirectionsChapin Park2 acres
Bristol Pointe Park1 acres
Who protects it
166 conserved acres
2% of Morris’ land. Who manages Morris’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources69 ac
Town or city67 ac
Other state land45 ac
State Recreation Area · 69 acState Park · 45 acLocal Park · 38 acLocal Recreation Area · 16 acState Conservation Area · 13 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois and Michigan Canal State Trail State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 69 | Open |
| Gebhard Woods State Park State Park | Other state land | 31 | Open |
| William G. Stratton State Park State Park | Other state land | 14 | Open |
| Goold Park Central Local Park | Town or city | 14 | Open |
| Third Avenue Priarie State Conservation Area | Town or city | 13 | Open |
| West Side Park & Skate Park Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| Big Bluestern Park Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| Lions Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Goold Park West Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Mckinley Park Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 3 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
16 places to go in Morris
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Morris
City of Morris Public PoolFee · In Goold Park
DirectionsRavine Woods Swimming Pool
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Morris
Goold Park playgroundIn Goold Park
DirectionsMcKinley PlaygroundIn McKinley Park
DirectionsWest Side PlaygroundIn West Side Park
DirectionsPlus 6 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Morris
2 boat launches without a name on the map.
Trails & water
1 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
13Baseball
10Tennis
2Football
2Pickleball
1Skate park
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →3 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 2 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Morris: 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 | 15.1 | 14.9 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 32 | 36 | 48 | 62 | 73 | 82 | 85 | 83 | 77 | 64 | 49 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.0 | 1.8 | 2.3 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 4.4 | 4.0 | 3.9 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 2.5 | 2.0 |
February is the driest month (1.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 4.7 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Morris →
Next door
Morris and its neighbors
Morris has the second most mapped trails of the 4 towns around it. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morris | 2% | 0.2 | 13 | 91% | B |
| Morris Township | 7% | 0.5 | 25 | 99%+ | A |
| Wauponsee Township | 5% | 0.1 | 307 | 59% | B |
| Erienna Township | 3% | 0.4 | 131 | 79% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Morris
Where can I hike in Morris?
The longest trail networks: Saratoga Park, 0.4 miles; Gebhard Woods State Park, 0.3 miles; West Side Park, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Morris 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 Morris’ trails?
Saratoga Park and Gebhard Woods State Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Morris?
3.6 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.6 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Morris?
7,740 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Morris or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 195 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Morris have?
Ahead of 55% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #459 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 Morris 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 →