25% of New Athens’ land is conserved: 332 acres
371 acres are parks and preserves, 192 per 1,000 residents. 92% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 0.4 miles of mapped trail cross New Athens, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 88% of U.S. towns. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is New Athens?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does New Athens have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, New Athens is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
Water is 8% of New Athens’ area (0 of 2 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 23%.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Okaw Valley Park, with 0.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Kaskaskia River State Fish and Wildlife Area
332 conserved acres
25% of New Athens’ land. Water is left out: New Athens has 2.1 square miles of land and 0.2 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages New Athens’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kaskaskia River State Fish and Wildlife Area State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 231 | Open |
| Peabody River King State Fish and Wildlife Area State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 85 | Open |
| Okaw Valley Park Local Park | Town or city | 16 | Open |
2 places to go in New Athens
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
1 lakes & rivers
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
The walking year in New Athens
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) | 41 | 46 | 57 | 68 | 77 | 86 | 89 | 88 | 81 | 70 | 56 | 45 |
| Rain (in) | 2.7 | 2.4 | 3.6 | 5.0 | 5.1 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 3.3 | 3.1 | 3.0 | 3.6 | 2.7 |
February is the driest month (2.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 89 °F). 5.1 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 89 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in New Athens →
New Athens and its neighbors
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Athens | 25% | 0.2 | 192 | 92% | A |
| New Athens Township | 24% | 0.1 | 1,807 | 81% | A |
| Lenzburg 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 New Athens
Where can I hike in New Athens?
The longest trail networks: Okaw Valley Park, 0.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of New Athens is conserved land?
25% 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 New Athens’ trails?
Okaw Valley Park and Kaskaskia River State Fish and Wildlife Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near New Athens?
13,604 acres of parks and open public land lie inside New Athens or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 371 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does New Athens have?
Ahead of 88% 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 New Athens neighbors.
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 →