Oak Valley Park
Park
8 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Preston Heights
96% of residents live within a half mile of a park in Preston Heights
18 acres are parks and preserves, 7.2 per 1,000 residents. 2% of Preston Heights’ land is conserved, about 18 acres.
Ahead of 37% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
18 acres · of 1.2 sq mi of land
Trails
0.0 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
18 ac
7.2 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
96%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.5 mi
0.5 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Preston Heights?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Preston Heights have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Preston Heights is ahead of 37% 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 Preston Heights’ overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4DPark land7.2 acres of park per 1,000 residents (18 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home96% of residents within a half mile of a park · IL 88% · U.S. 72%A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 37%
LessMore
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Preston Heights. 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 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
18 conserved acres
2% of Preston Heights’ land. Who manages Preston Heights’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Regional agency18 ac
Local Park · 12 acLocal Recreation Area · 6 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oak Valley Park Local Park | Regional agency | 11 | Open |
| Wauponsee Glacial Trail 1 Local Recreation Area | Regional agency | 6 | Open |
| Singleton Park Local Park | Regional agency | 1 | Open |
Biking & sports
0.5 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.5 mi
off-road bike paths
When to get out
The best walking months in Preston Heights: 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) | 31 | 36 | 48 | 61 | 72 | 81 | 84 | 83 | 77 | 64 | 49 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.1 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 3.8 | 4.7 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 2.6 | 2.1 |
February is the driest month (1.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.7 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Preston Heights →
Next door
Preston Heights and its neighbors
Preston Heights has the second most mapped trails of the 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preston Heights | 2% | under 0.1 | 7 | 96% | C+ |
| Joliet | 6% | 0.2 | 15 | 95% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Preston Heights
How much of Preston Heights is conserved land?
2% 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 Preston Heights’ trails?
Oak Valley Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Preston Heights?
0.5 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.5 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Preston Heights?
23,459 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Preston Heights or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 18 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Preston Heights have?
Ahead of 37% 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 Preston Heights 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 →