Crystal Springs Park
Park
9 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Nlpictures · Public domainB+Outdoors
Outdoors in New Lenox
New Lenox has 624 acres of parks, 22 for every 1,000 residents
95% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 6% of New Lenox’s land is conserved, about 648 acres. 2.3 miles of mapped trail cross New Lenox, 0.1 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 69% of U.S. towns · #314 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
6%
648 acres · of 16.1 sq mi of land
Trails
2.3 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
624 ac
22 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
95%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
13 mi
13 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is New Lenox?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does New Lenox have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, New Lenox is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns, #314 of 768 in Illinois. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of New Lenox’s overall grade.
Conserved land6% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land22 acres of park per 1,000 residents (624 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home95% 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 69%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 59%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A−. 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 Crystal Springs Park, with 0.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Hadley Valley Preserve
Managed by Forest Preserve District of Will County
155 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Lower Spring Creek County Forest Preserve
Park
24 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 21 parks & preserves
Crystal Springs Park9 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
Palmer Valley Park6 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
DirectionsSchoolhouse Manor Park9 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Sky Harbor Park4 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Sharon's Bay Park9 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Hadley Valley Preserve155 acres · Forest Preserve District of Will County
Lower Spring Creek County Forest Preserve24 acres
Walker Country Estates Park13 acres
Leigh Creek South Park9 acres
Walona Park7 acres
DirectionsHaines Wayside Park7 acres
Freedom Park7 acres
DirectionsLions Park6 acres
DirectionsJacob Lowell Park5 acres
Wildflower Park5 acres
Fieldstone Park4 acres
DirectionsCorcoran Park4 acres
Wildwood Park4 acres
DirectionsLaurel Meadow4 acres
DirectionsTaylor Glen Park3 acres · New Lenox Community Park District
Royal Meadows Park2 acres
Who protects it
648 conserved acres
6% of New Lenox’s land. Who manages New Lenox’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Regional agency288 ac
Town or city246 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits114 ac
Local Park · 304 acLocal Recreation Area · 229 acConservation Easement · 114 acLocal Conservation Area · 2 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 114 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanctuary Golf Course Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 224 | Open |
| Crystal Springs Park Local Park | Regional agency | 51 | Open |
| Bentley/ Tyler Athletic Fields Local Park | Regional agency | 50 | Open |
| Unknown Park Local Park | Regional agency | 28 | Open |
| Stonebridge Park Local Park | Regional agency | 27 | Open |
| Countryview/Royal Meadows Park Local Park | Regional agency | 22 | Open |
| Nelson Campus Park/ Fields Local Park | Regional agency | 19 | Open |
| Hibernia Park Local Park | Regional agency | 14 | Open |
| Firefighters Park Local Park | Regional agency | 11 | Open |
| Walona Park Local Park | Regional agency | 11 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
14 places to go in New Lenox
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in New Lenox
Taylor Glen Park PlaygroundIn Taylor Glen Park
Directionsschool playground
DirectionsPlus 12 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Biking & sports
13 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
13 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
33Baseball
5Basketball
5Tennis
2Volleyball
1Skate park
1Pickleball
1Soccer
1Beach volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in New Lenox: 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 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 32 | 36 | 48 | 61 | 72 | 81 | 84 | 83 | 76 | 64 | 49 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.1 | 1.9 | 2.4 | 3.9 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 2.6 | 2.2 |
February is the driest month (1.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.6 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in New Lenox →
Next door
New Lenox and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Questions about parks and trails in New Lenox
Where can I hike in New Lenox?
The longest trail networks: Crystal Springs Park, 0.4 miles; Palmer Valley Park, 0.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of New Lenox is conserved land?
6% 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 Lenox’s trails?
Crystal Springs Park and Palmer Valley Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in New Lenox?
13 miles of bike routes are on the map: 13 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near New Lenox?
25,545 acres of parks and open public land lie inside New Lenox or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 738 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does New Lenox have?
Ahead of 69% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #314 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 New Lenox 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 →