Stickney Run Conservation Area
Managed by McHenry County Conservation District
30 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
COutdoors
Outdoors in Prairie Grove
6% of Prairie Grove’s land is conserved: 239 acres
16% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 10 acres are parks and preserves, 4.6 per 1,000 residents. 1.8 miles of mapped trail cross Prairie Grove, 0.3 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 34% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
6%
239 acres · of 6.1 sq mi of land
Trails
1.8 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
10 ac
4.6 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
16%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.4 mi
0.4 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Prairie Grove have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Prairie Grove is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Prairie Grove’s overall grade.
Conserved land6% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land4.6 acres of park per 1,000 residents (10 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13CParks close to home16% 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 34%
LessMore
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.
Who protects it
239 conserved acres
6% of Prairie Grove’s land. Who manages Prairie Grove’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Regional agency229 ac
Town or city9 ac
State Conservation Area · 128 acLocal Conservation Area · 102 acLocal Park · 9 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stickney Run Conservation Area Local Conservation Area | Regional agency | 102 | Restricted |
| Stickney Run 14 State Conservation Area | Regional agency | 70 | Restricted |
| Stickney Run 13 State Conservation Area | Regional agency | 39 | Restricted |
| Stickney Run 15 State Conservation Area | Regional agency | 12 | Restricted |
| Village Hall Park Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| Stickney Run 12 State Conservation Area | Regional agency | 7 | Restricted |
Things to do
3 places to go in Prairie Grove
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Prairie Grove
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.4 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.4 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
2Baseball
1Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Prairie Grove: July to 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 | 14.6 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 30 | 34 | 46 | 58 | 70 | 79 | 83 | 81 | 75 | 62 | 47 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 1.8 | 1.7 | 2.2 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 4.7 | 3.9 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 3.2 | 2.4 | 2.0 |
February is the driest month (1.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.7 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Prairie Grove →
Next door
Prairie Grove 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prairie Grove | 6% | 0.3 | 5 | 16% | C |
| Crystal Lake | 10% | 1.0 | 40 | 97% | A |
| McHenry | 3% | 0.5 | 22 | 90% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Prairie Grove
How much of Prairie Grove is conserved land?
6% 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 Prairie Grove’s trails?
Stickney Run Conservation Area doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Prairie Grove?
0.4 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.4 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Prairie Grove?
19,225 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Prairie Grove or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 10 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Prairie Grove have?
Ahead of 34% 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 Prairie Grove 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 →