Veteran's Memorial Park
Park
41 acres1.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Paul Sableman · CC BY 2.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Mount Vernon
Mount Vernon has 8.9 miles of mapped trails, 0.6 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: Veteran's Memorial Park (1.2 mi), Lincoln Park (1.1 mi). 270 acres are parks and preserves, 19 per 1,000 residents. 1% of Mount Vernon’s land is conserved, about 110 acres.
Ahead of 57% of U.S. towns · #442 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
110 acres · of 14.7 sq mi of land
Trails
8.9 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
270 ac
19 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
70%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
5
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Mount Vernon have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Mount Vernon is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns, #442 of 768 in Illinois. Trail miles hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Mount Vernon’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (9 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land19 acres of park per 1,000 residents (270 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13BParks close to home70% 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 57%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 43%
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 Veteran's Memorial Park, with 1.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Lincoln Park
Park
78 acres1.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Goldman-Kuenz Sculpture Park at Cedarhurst
Managed by Cedarhurst Center for the Arts
62 acres
Dogs allowed
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
All 9 parks & preserves
Veteran's Memorial Park41 acres · 1.2 mi of trail
DirectionsLincoln Park78 acres · 1.1 mi of trail
Bob Strothman Baseball Park10 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsGoldman-Kuenz Sculpture Park at Cedarhurst62 acres · Cedarhurst Center for the Arts
Jefferson County Fairground42 acres
DirectionsAirport Park8 acres
DirectionsFairmont Ballpark7 acres
DirectionsAl Dawson Senior Park5 acres
DirectionsOptimist Park5 acres
Who protects it
110 conserved acres
1% of Mount Vernon’s land. Who manages Mount Vernon’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city103 ac
Private owners7 ac
Local Park · 64 acLocal Recreation Area · 46 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Veterans Memorial Park Local Park | Town or city | 40 | Open |
| Lincoln Park Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 21 | Open |
| Bob Strothman Baseball Park Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 11 | Open |
| Optimist Park Local Park | Town or city | 10 | Open |
| Airport Park Local Park | Town or city | 8 | Open |
| Aquatic Zoo Park Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 7 | Open |
| Fairmont Park Local Recreation Area | Private owners | 7 | Open |
| Al Dawson Sr Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
Things to do
9 places to go in Mount Vernon
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Mount Vernon
9 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
5 lakes & rivers
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
15Baseball
12Tennis
6Basketball
3Soccer
2Tracks
2Football
1Softball
1Skate park
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Appellate Court, 5th DistrictBuilding · listed 1973
About itWhen to get out
The walking year in Mount Vernon
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) | 9.8 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.1 | 14.2 | 14.8 | 14.6 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| High (°F) | 39 | 45 | 55 | 67 | 76 | 84 | 87 | 86 | 80 | 69 | 55 | 44 |
| Rain (in) | 3.1 | 2.6 | 4.0 | 4.9 | 5.1 | 4.7 | 4.1 | 3.5 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 4.0 | 3.0 |
February is the driest month (2.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 5.1 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Mount Vernon →
Next door
Mount Vernon and its neighbors
Mount Vernon has the most mapped trails of the 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Vernon | 1% | 0.6 | 19 | 70% | B |
| Mount Vernon Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Dodds Township | 3% | 0.1 | 265 | 18% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Mount Vernon
Where can I hike in Mount Vernon?
The longest trail networks: Veteran's Memorial Park, 1.2 miles; Lincoln Park, 1.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Mount Vernon 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 Vernon’s trails?
OpenStreetMap records dogs as welcome at Goldman-Kuenz Sculpture Park at Cedarhurst. For the rest, check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Mount Vernon?
6,116 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Mount Vernon or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 270 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Mount Vernon have?
Ahead of 57% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #442 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 Mount Vernon 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 →