Plainville Park
Park
4 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Gerry Dincher · CC BY-SA 2.0C−Outdoors
Outdoors in Payson Township
Payson Township has 10 acres of parks, 5.3 for every 1,000 residents
71% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 16% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
23 acres · of 38.3 sq mi of land
Trails
0.0 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
10 ac
5.3 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
71%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Payson Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Payson Township is ahead of 16% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
C−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Payson Township’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%DTrails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4DPark land5.3 acres of park per 1,000 residents (10 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13CParks close to home71% of residents within a half mile of a park · IL 88% · U.S. 72%B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 16%
LessMore
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Payson Township. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. 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.
Ken Morgan Memorial Park
Park
4 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
23 conserved acres
under 1% of Payson Township’s land. Who manages Payson Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State conservation23 ac
Conservation Easement · 23 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 23 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
Things to do
1 places to go in Payson Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Payson Township
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
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
4Baseball
2Basketball
1Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The walking year in Payson Township
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 | 15.0 | 14.7 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 35 | 41 | 52 | 64 | 74 | 83 | 87 | 85 | 79 | 66 | 52 | 40 |
| Rain (in) | 1.8 | 1.9 | 2.6 | 4.2 | 5.0 | 4.9 | 3.9 | 3.8 | 3.4 | 3.2 | 2.6 | 2.0 |
January is the driest month (1.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 5.0 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Payson Township →
Next door
Payson Township 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payson Township | under 1% | under 0.1 | 5 | 71% | C− |
| Fall Creek Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Kinderhook 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 Payson Township
How much of Payson Township 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 Payson Township’s trails?
Plainville Park and Ken Morgan Memorial Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Payson Township?
7,282 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Payson Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 10 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Payson Township have?
Ahead of 16% 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 Payson Township 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 →