Waukarusa Canyon
Nature preserve
136 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: PeteBobb · CC BY-SA 3.0COutdoors
Outdoors in Mount Carroll Township
Mount Carroll Township has 29 acres of parks, 15 for every 1,000 residents
0.7 miles of mapped trail cross Mount Carroll Township. 72% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 31% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
163 acres · of 37.7 sq mi of land
Trails
0.7 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
29 ac
15 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
72%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.1 mi
0.1 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
4
What kind of outdoors town is Mount Carroll Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Mount Carroll Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Mount Carroll Township is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Mount Carroll Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land15 acres of park per 1,000 residents (29 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13BParks close to home72% 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 31%
LessMore
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.
Point Rock Park
Park
26 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
163 conserved acres
1% of Mount Carroll Township’s land. Who manages Mount Carroll Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Private owners152 ac
State conservation88 ac
Town or city6 ac
Private Conservation · 152 acConservation Easement · 88 acLocal Park · 6 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sterling-Rock Camp Merrill M. Benson Land and Water Reserve Private Conservation | Private owners | 79 | Closed |
| Waukarusa Canyon Private Conservation | Private owners | 73 | Restricted |
| Point Rock Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Lowden Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Mount Carroll Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Mount Carroll Township
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
4 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.1 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.1 mi
off-road bike paths
When to get out
The best walking months in Mount Carroll 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) | 9.4 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 29 | 34 | 47 | 60 | 72 | 81 | 84 | 82 | 76 | 63 | 47 | 34 |
| Rain (in) | 1.5 | 1.7 | 2.4 | 3.7 | 4.4 | 5.3 | 4.4 | 3.9 | 3.7 | 2.8 | 2.4 | 1.9 |
January is the driest month (1.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 5.3 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Mount Carroll Township →
Next door
Mount Carroll Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Savanna Township7.5 miYork Township5.8 miFreedom Township4.6 miSalem Township0.9 miMount Carroll Township0.7 miMount Carroll0.0 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Carroll Township | 1% | under 0.1 | 15 | 72% | C |
| Salem Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Mount Carroll | under 1% | under 0.1 | 19 | 96% | C+ |
| Savanna Township | 63% | 0.6 | 52 | 80% | A |
| York Township | 18% | 0.1 | under 1 | 15% | C |
| Freedom 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 Mount Carroll Township
How much of Mount Carroll 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 Mount Carroll Township’s trails?
Waukarusa Canyon and Point Rock Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Mount Carroll Township?
0.1 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.1 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Mount Carroll Township?
15,646 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Mount Carroll Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 29 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Mount Carroll Township have?
Ahead of 31% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 Mount Carroll 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 →