Horseshoe Lake State Park
Managed by Illinois Department of Natural Resources
1,589 acres4.3 mi of trail
Horseshoe Lake Hiking Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailhead
AOutdoors
Outdoors in Pontoon Beach
30% of Pontoon Beach’s land is conserved: 1,911 acres
1,842 acres are parks and preserves, 306 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Horseshoe Lake State Park (4.3 mi). 5.5 miles of mapped trail cross Pontoon Beach, 0.6 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 92% of U.S. towns · #56 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
30%
1,911 acres · of 9.8 sq mi of land
Trails
5.5 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
1,842 ac
306 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
78%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
4.9 mi
4.9 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
5
2 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Pontoon Beach?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Pontoon Beach have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Pontoon Beach is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns, #56 of 768 in Illinois. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; conserved land ranks highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Pontoon Beach’s overall grade.
Conserved land30% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (6 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land306 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,842 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13AParks close to home78% 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 92%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 93%
Water is 20% of Pontoon Beach’s area (2 of 12 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 24%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− 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 Horseshoe Lake State Park, with 4.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
1,911 conserved acres
30% of Pontoon Beach’s land. Water is left out: Pontoon Beach has 9.8 square miles of land and 2.5 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Pontoon Beach’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources1,525 ac
Town or city337 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits82 ac
County48 ac
Regional agency1 ac
State Park · 1,525 acState Conservation Area · 218 acConservation Easement · 82 acLocal Conservation Area · 82 acLocal Recreation Area · 32 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Horshoe Lake State Park State Park | State natural resources | 1,525 | Open |
| Levee Lake State Conservation Area | Town or city | 218 | Open |
| Arlington Wetlands Local Conservation Area | Town or city | 82 | Open |
| Mct Schoolhouse Trail Spur Local Recreation Area | County | 31 | Open |
| Legacy Golf Course Unknown | Town or city | 26 | Open |
| Mct Nature Trail Local Park | County | 16 | Open |
| Mitchell Athletic Park Local Park | Town or city | 8 | Open |
| Randall D. Dalton Veterans Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Arlington Greens Golf Course Local Recreation Area | Regional agency | 1 | Open |
Things to do
4 places to go in Pontoon Beach
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Pontoon Beach
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in Pontoon Beach
Horseshoe Lake Boat RampIn Horseshoe Lake State Park
DirectionsHorseshoe Lake South Boat RampIn Horseshoe Lake State Park
DirectionsCampgrounds in Pontoon Beach
Tent campingIn Horseshoe Lake State Park
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail and 5 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 4.1 mi
Horseshoe Lake Hiking Trail3.9 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
4.9 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
4.9 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The walking year in Pontoon Beach
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) | 9.7 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 14.9 | 14.6 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| High (°F) | 40 | 45 | 56 | 67 | 77 | 86 | 89 | 87 | 81 | 69 | 55 | 44 |
| Rain (in) | 2.5 | 2.2 | 3.4 | 4.7 | 5.0 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 3.2 | 3.4 | 2.6 |
February is the driest month (2.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 89 °F). 5.0 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 89 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Pontoon Beach →
Next door
Pontoon Beach and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Edwardsville21 miCollinsville14 miNameoki Township9.0 miMadison6.5 miPontoon Beach5.5 miGranite City1.2 miGranite City Township0.9 miGlen Carbon0.7 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pontoon Beach | 30% | 0.6 | 306 | 78% | A |
| Granite City | 4% | 0.1 | 17 | 90% | B− |
| Collinsville | 12% | 0.9 | 45 | 78% | A |
| Granite City Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Nameoki Township | 34% | 0.4 | 373 | 73% | A |
| Edwardsville | 4% | 1.0 | 16 | 95% | A− |
| Glen Carbon | 4% | 0.1 | 26 | 83% | B |
| Madison | 46% | 0.5 | 1,465 | 99% | A+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Pontoon Beach
Where can I hike in Pontoon Beach?
The longest trail networks: Horseshoe Lake State Park, 4.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Pontoon Beach is conserved land?
30% 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 Pontoon Beach’s trails?
Horseshoe Lake State Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Pontoon Beach?
4.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 4.9 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Pontoon Beach?
20,573 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Pontoon Beach or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,842 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Pontoon Beach have?
Ahead of 92% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #56 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 Pontoon Beach 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 →