Dorrance Park
Park
81 acres4.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Robert Haugland · CC BY-SA 4.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Port Byron
Port Byron has 85 acres of parks, 46 for every 1,000 residents
4.4 miles of mapped trail cross Port Byron, 1.8 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Dorrance Park (4.3 mi). 8% of Port Byron’s land is conserved, about 123 acres.
Ahead of 81% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
8%
123 acres · of 2.4 sq mi of land
Trails
4.4 mi
1.8 per sq mi of land
Park land
85 ac
46 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
44%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.3 mi
2.3 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Port Byron?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Port Byron have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Port Byron is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns. Trail miles hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Port Byron’s overall grade.
Conserved land8% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%B+Trails1.8 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (4 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4APark land46 acres of park per 1,000 residents (85 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home44% 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 81%
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 Dorrance Park, with 4.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
123 conserved acres
8% of Port Byron’s land. Who manages Port Byron’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County83 ac
Army Corps of Engineers40 ac
Local Park · 83 acRecreation Management Area · 40 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dorrance Park Local Park | County | 83 | Open |
| Ms Rv Pools 11-22 Recreation Area Recreation Management Area | Army Corps of Engineers | 40 | Open |
Things to do
3 places to go in Port Byron
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Port Byron
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Biking & sports
2.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.3 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
2Softball
1Multi-sport
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
September is the best month for walking in Port Byron
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) | 30 | 35 | 48 | 61 | 72 | 81 | 84 | 82 | 76 | 63 | 48 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 1.5 | 1.7 | 2.5 | 3.8 | 4.7 | 4.9 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 3.5 | 2.8 | 2.4 | 1.9 |
January is the driest month (1.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.9 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Port Byron →
Next door
Port Byron and its neighbors
Port Byron has the 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Port Byron | 8% | 1.8 | 46 | 44% | A− |
| Rapids City | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Port Byron Township | 7% | 1.2 | 65 | 54% | A− |
| Coe Township | under 1% | under 0.1 | 7 | 6% | D |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Port Byron
Where can I hike in Port Byron?
The longest trail networks: Dorrance Park, 4.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Port Byron is conserved land?
8% 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 Port Byron’s trails?
Dorrance Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Port Byron?
2.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.3 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Port Byron?
9,189 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Port Byron or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 123 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Port Byron have?
Ahead of 81% 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 Port Byron 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 →