Billy Myers Memorial Park
Park
8 acres0.3 mi of trail
Kenneth Williams Walkway
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: NatFee · CC BY-SA 4.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in North Pekin
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in North Pekin
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 1.2 miles of mapped trail cross North Pekin, 0.9 per square mile of land. 2% of North Pekin’s land is conserved, about 18 acres.
Ahead of 76% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
18 acres · of 1.4 sq mi of land
Trails
1.2 mi
0.9 per sq mi of land
Park land
19 ac
12 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is North Pekin?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does North Pekin have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, North Pekin is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of North Pekin’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%C+Trails0.9 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land12 acres of park per 1,000 residents (19 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · IL 88% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 76%
LessMore
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 Billy Myers Memorial Park, with 0.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Pekin Lake State Fish & Wildlife Area
Nature preserve
13 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Richard Morrissey Park
Managed by Village of North Pekin
9 acres
Dogs on leash
Directionsto the parking lot
Everett McKinley Dirksen Park
Nature preserve
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
18 conserved acres
2% of North Pekin’s land. Who manages North Pekin’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city16 ac
Other state land2 ac
State conservation1 ac
Local Park · 16 acState Recreation Area · 2 acConservation Easement · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1 acre is a conservation easement, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Morrissey Park Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| Billy Myers Memorial Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Pekin Lake State Recreation Area | Other state land | 2 | Open |
Things to do
4 places to go in North Pekin
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in North Pekin
Kiddie CorralHours: dawn-dusk · In Richard Morrissey Park
DirectionsPlus 3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
2 named trails
Named trails
Kenneth Williams Walkway0.2 mi
Chickenhawk0.1 mi
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
2Basketball
2Tennis
1Baseball
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 North Pekin
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) | 9.6 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.4 | 15.1 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.9 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 34 | 39 | 51 | 64 | 75 | 84 | 87 | 85 | 79 | 66 | 51 | 39 |
| Rain (in) | 2.1 | 1.9 | 2.5 | 3.9 | 4.7 | 4.2 | 3.9 | 3.7 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 2.7 | 2.2 |
February is the driest month (1.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 4.7 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in North Pekin →
Next door
North Pekin and its neighbors
North Pekin has the second 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Pekin | 2% | 0.9 | 12 | 99%+ | A− |
| Pekin | 20% | 1.6 | 38 | 79% | A |
| Marquette Heights | 7% | 1.2 | 9 | 99%+ | A |
| Creve Coeur | 4% | under 0.1 | 35 | 86% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in North Pekin
Where can I hike in North Pekin?
The longest trail networks: Billy Myers Memorial Park, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of North Pekin is conserved land?
2% 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 North Pekin’s trails?
OpenStreetMap records dogs as welcome at Richard Morrissey Park (on leash). For the rest, check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near North Pekin?
10,199 acres of parks and open public land lie inside North Pekin or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 19 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does North Pekin have?
Ahead of 76% 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 North Pekin 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 →