Centennial Park
Park
20 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
COutdoors
Outdoors in Ross Township
Ross Township has 24 acres of parks, 17 for every 1,000 residents
87% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 1.1 miles of mapped trail cross Ross Township.
Ahead of 31% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
0 acres · of 36.6 sq mi of land
Trails
1.1 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
24 ac
17 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
87%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Ross Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Ross Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Ross Township is ahead of 31% 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 Ross Township’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%DTrails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land17 acres of park per 1,000 residents (24 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13BParks close to home87% 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 31%
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.
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
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
August is the best month for walking in Ross Township
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) | 9.6 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.4 | 15.0 | 14.7 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 35 | 40 | 51 | 64 | 74 | 83 | 85 | 84 | 79 | 66 | 51 | 40 |
| Rain (in) | 2.6 | 2.1 | 3.0 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 4.9 | 4.2 | 3.2 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 3.4 | 2.6 |
February is the driest month (2.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 4.9 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Ross Township →
Next door
Ross Township 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ross Township | under 1% | under 0.1 | 17 | 87% | C |
| Young America Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Carroll Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Elwood Township | under 1% | 0.1 | under 1 | under 1% | D− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Ross Township
How much of Ross Township 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 Ross Township’s trails?
Centennial Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Ross Township?
889 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Ross Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 24 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Ross Township have?
Ahead of 31% 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 Ross Township 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 →