Grant Park Recreation Center
Managed by Vererans Pak District
15 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Northlake
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Northlake
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. The biggest trail networks: Grant Park Recreation Center (0.5 mi). 1.8 miles of mapped trail cross Northlake, 0.6 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 67% of U.S. towns · #339 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
60 acres · of 3.2 sq mi of land
Trails
1.8 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
72 ac
5.7 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.8 mi
1.8 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Northlake?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Northlake have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Northlake is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns, #339 of 768 in Illinois. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Northlake’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land5.7 acres of park per 1,000 residents (72 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13CParks 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 67%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 56%
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 Grant Park Recreation Center, with 0.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Centerpoint Preserve & Recreational Facility
Park
33 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Creekside Park
Park
4 acres0.2 mi of trail
Midland Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Northlake Park
Park
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 10 parks & preserves
Grant Park Recreation Center15 acres · 0.5 mi of trail · Vererans Pak District
DirectionsCreekside Park4 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Millennium Park1 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Centerpoint Preserve & Recreational Facility33 acres
DirectionsNorthlake Park3 acres
Friendly Park2 acres
Kahl Park1 acres
Hasen Park1 acres
Ful-Roy Park1 acres · Northlake Park District
Nagle-Perri Park1 acres
Who protects it
60 conserved acres
3% of Northlake’s land. Who manages Northlake’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city43 ac
Regional agency16 ac
Local Conservation Area · 30 acLocal Park · 29 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Centerpoint Preserve Local Conservation Area | Town or city | 30 | Open |
| Grant Park Local Park | Regional agency | 13 | Open |
| Hansen Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Friendship Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Northlake Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Kahl Park Local Park | Regional agency | 2 | Open |
| Posphalla Park Local Park | Regional agency | 1 | Open |
| Millennium Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| Ful-Roy Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| Nagle Perri Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
9 places to go in Northlake
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Northlake
Joanne Floistad Harmony ParkIn Centerpoint Preserve & Recreational Facility
DirectionsPlus 5 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Northlake
Northlake Dog ParkIn Centerpoint Preserve & Recreational Facility
DirectionsCommunity gardens in Northlake
2 community gardens without a name on the map.
Trails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Midland Trail0.9 mi
Biking & sports
1.8 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.8 mi
off-road bike paths
Midland TrailBike route
1 miCourts & fields
8Tennis
7Baseball
2Football
2Soccer
1Volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Northlake: April, July 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 | 14.9 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 32 | 36 | 47 | 59 | 71 | 80 | 84 | 82 | 76 | 63 | 48 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.0 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 3.8 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 3.7 | 4.0 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 2.5 | 2.1 |
February is the driest month (1.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.6 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Northlake →
Next door
Northlake and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
York Township34 miProviso Township23 miElmhurst7.0 miNorthlake1.8 miMelrose Park0.5 miFranklin Park0.5 miBerkeley0.0 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northlake | 3% | 0.6 | 6 | 99%+ | B+ |
| Melrose Park | 2% | 0.1 | 2 | 99%+ | C+ |
| Franklin Park | 1% | 0.1 | 2 | 99%+ | C+ |
| Berkeley | 1% | under 0.1 | 3 | 99%+ | C |
| Elmhurst | 6% | 0.7 | 9 | 99% | A− |
| Proviso Township | 3% | 0.8 | 2 | 99%+ | B |
| York Township | 6% | 1.0 | 11 | 94% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Northlake
Where can I hike in Northlake?
The longest trail networks: Grant Park Recreation Center, 0.5 miles; Creekside Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Northlake is conserved land?
3% 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 Northlake’s trails?
Grant Park Recreation Center and Centerpoint Preserve & Recreational Facility don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Northlake?
1.8 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.8 of off-road paths. Named routes: Midland Trail.
Is there public land near Northlake?
11,501 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Northlake or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 72 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Northlake have?
Ahead of 67% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #339 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 Northlake 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 →