Sag Valley Forest Preserve
Managed by Forest Preserve District of Cook County
60 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Crosbiesmith · CC BY-SA 4.0B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Palos Park
Palos Park has 29 miles of mapped trails, 4.7 for every square mile of land
23 acres are parks and preserves, 4.8 per 1,000 residents. 54% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 45% of U.S. towns · #542 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
12 acres · of 6.1 sq mi of land
Trails
29 mi
4.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
23 ac
4.8 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
54%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.3 mi
1.3 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
3
What kind of outdoors town is Palos Park?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Palos Park have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Palos Park is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns, #542 of 768 in Illinois. Trail miles hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Palos Park’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%C−Trails4.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (29 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4A+Park land4.8 acres of park per 1,000 residents (23 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13CParks close to home54% of residents within a half mile of a park · IL 88% · U.S. 72%C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 45%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 29%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C− 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Forty Acre Woods
Managed by Forest Preserve District of Cook County
19 acres0.2 mi of trail
Green Unpaved Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Cap Sauers Holding Nature Preserve
Managed by Forest Preserve District of Cook County
6 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 7 parks & preserves
Forty Acre Woods19 acres · 0.2 mi of trail · Forest Preserve District of Cook County
Centennial Park14 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsSag Valley Forest Preserve60 acres · Forest Preserve District of Cook County
DirectionsCap Sauers Holding Nature Preserve6 acres · Forest Preserve District of Cook County
Village Green4 acres
DirectionsPalos Preserves1 acres · Forest Preserve District of Cook County
Trailhead Bicycle Access1 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
12 conserved acres
under 1% of Palos Park’s land. Who manages Palos Park’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city7 ac
State conservation4 ac
Local Park · 7 acConservation Easement · 4 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palos Park Recreation Center Local Park | Town or city | 7 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Palos Park
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Palos Park
Playground on the GreenIn Village Green
DirectionsTrails & water
3 named trails and 3 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 2.0 mi
Sag Valley Brown Unpaved Loop1.5 mi
Green Unpaved Trail0.2 mi
Trenton Foot Path0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
1.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.3 mi
off-road bike paths
Sag Valley Trail SystemBike route
1.7 miCourts & fields
3Tennis
1Soccer
1Baseball
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Palos Park: 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 | 47 | 60 | 71 | 81 | 84 | 82 | 76 | 63 | 49 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 2.2 | 1.9 | 2.5 | 3.9 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 2.7 | 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 Palos Park →
Next door
Palos Park and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Palos Township80 miLemont Township53 miPalos Park29 miOrland Park22 miLemont13 miPalos Hills3.1 miPalos Heights2.0 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palos Park | under 1% | 4.7 | 5 | 54% | B− |
| Lemont | 7% | 1.4 | 26 | 97% | A |
| Palos Heights | 2% | 0.5 | 7 | 98% | B |
| Orland Park | 5% | 1.0 | 14 | 98% | A− |
| Palos Hills | 3% | 0.7 | 5 | 92% | B |
| Palos Township | 15% | 2.4 | 6 | 84% | A− |
| Lemont Township | 3% | 2.6 | 9 | 88% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Palos Park
Where can I hike in Palos Park?
The longest trail networks: Forty Acre Woods, 0.2 miles; Centennial Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Palos Park is conserved land?
under 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 Palos Park’s trails?
Sag Valley Forest Preserve and Forty Acre Woods don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Palos Park?
1.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.3 of off-road paths. Named routes: Sag Valley Trail System.
Is there public land near Palos Park?
17,605 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Palos Park or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 23 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Palos Park have?
Ahead of 45% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #542 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 Palos Park 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 →