Ballard Nature Center
Nature preserve
266 acres5.4 mi of trail
DRAFTBluestem TrailSavanna TrailSecond Creek Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Mound Township
Mound Township has 148 acres of parks, 42 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Ballard Nature Center (5.4 mi). 5.6 miles of mapped trail cross Mound Township, 0.2 per square mile of land. 1% of Mound Township’s land is conserved, about 274 acres.
Ahead of 46% of U.S. towns · #535 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
274 acres · of 37.0 sq mi of land
Trails
5.6 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
148 ac
42 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
58%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Mound Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Mound Township is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns, #535 of 768 in Illinois. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Mound Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (6 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land42 acres of park per 1,000 residents (148 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home58% 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 46%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 30%
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 Ballard Nature Center, with 5.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Schmidt Park
Park
4 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Heritage Park
Park
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
274 conserved acres
1% of Mound Township’s land. Who manages Mound Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits217 ac
State conservation82 ac
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service51 ac
Private Recreation or Education · 217 acConservation Easement · 134 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 58 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ballard Nature Center Private Recreation or Education | Land trusts & nonprofits | 217 | Open |
Trails & water
5 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 0.9 mi
DRAFT1.6 mi
Bluestem Trail1.3 mi
Savanna Trail0.3 mi
Second Creek Trail0.2 mi
Red Fox Trail0.2 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Courts & fields
4Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
August is the best month for walking in Mound 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) | 9.7 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 14.9 | 14.6 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 37 | 42 | 53 | 65 | 75 | 84 | 87 | 86 | 80 | 68 | 53 | 41 |
| Rain (in) | 2.9 | 2.4 | 3.3 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.1 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 2.7 |
February is the driest month (2.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 4.9 inches fall in April, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Mound Township →
Next door
Mound Township and its neighbors
Mound Township has the 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mound Township | 1% | 0.2 | 42 | 58% | B− |
| Avena Township | under 1% | 0.1 | 4 | 51% | C− |
| West Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Moccasin 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 Mound Township
Where can I hike in Mound Township?
The longest trail networks: Ballard Nature Center, 5.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Mound Township is conserved land?
1% 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 Mound Township’s trails?
Ballard Nature Center and Schmidt Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Mound Township?
1,087 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Mound Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 148 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Mound Township have?
Ahead of 46% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #535 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 Mound 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 →