Wellie Jackson Park
Park
10 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
C−Outdoors
Outdoors in Rome
Rome has 12 acres of parks, 6.3 for every 1,000 residents
0.1 miles of mapped trail cross Rome, 0.1 per square mile of land. 64% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 22% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
4 acres · of 1.9 sq mi of land
Trails
0.1 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
12 ac
6.3 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
64%
of residents within ½ mile
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Rome have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Rome is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
C−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Rome’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%C−Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land6.3 acres of park per 1,000 residents (12 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home64% 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 22%
LessMore
Water is 23% of Rome’s area (1 of 3 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read under 1%.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Rome. 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 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.
Who protects it
4 conserved acres
under 1% of Rome’s land. Water is left out: Rome has 1.9 square miles of land and 0.6 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Rome’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city2 ac
Regional agency2 ac
Local Park · 2 acLocal Recreation Area · 2 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walnut Dog Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Big And Little Gotch Fields Local Recreation Area | Regional agency | 2 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Rome
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Dog parks in Rome
Walnut Dog ParkIn Wellie Jackson Park
DirectionsPicnic areas in Rome
1 picnic area without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
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
2Baseball
1Pickleball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Rome: August 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 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.4 | 15.1 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 33 | 38 | 50 | 64 | 74 | 83 | 86 | 84 | 78 | 65 | 50 | 38 |
| Rain (in) | 1.9 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 3.8 | 4.6 | 4.2 | 3.9 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 3.0 | 2.5 | 2.1 |
February is the driest month (1.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 86 °F). 4.6 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Rome →
Next door
Rome 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rome | under 1% | 0.1 | 6 | 64% | C− |
| Chillicothe Township | 15% | 0.2 | 174 | 71% | A− |
| Partridge Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Chillicothe | 3% | 0.3 | 11 | 73% | B− |
| Medina Township | 8% | 0.3 | 47 | 81% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Rome
How much of Rome 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 Rome’s trails?
Wellie Jackson Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Rome?
12,939 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Rome or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 12 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Rome have?
Ahead of 22% 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 Rome 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 →