Old Mill Park
Park
27 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Jesster79 · CC BY-SA 3.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Savanna Township
More than half of Savanna Township’s land is conserved: 63%
63% of Savanna Township’s land is conserved, about 5,390 acres. 175 acres are parks and preserves, 52 per 1,000 residents. 7.5 miles of mapped trail cross Savanna Township, 0.6 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 91% of U.S. towns · #77 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
63%
5,390 acres · of 13.4 sq mi of land
Trails
7.5 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
175 ac
52 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
80%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
5.2 mi
5.2 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
5
5 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Savanna Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Savanna Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Savanna Township is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns, #77 of 768 in Illinois. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; conserved land ranks highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Savanna Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land63% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%A+Trails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (8 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land52 acres of park per 1,000 residents (175 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home80% 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 91%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 90%
Water is 36% of Savanna Township’s area (8 of 21 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 40%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− 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 Old Mill Park, with 0.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Ayers Sand Prairie State Nature Preserve
Park
116 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Bowen Park
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
5,390 conserved acres
63% of Savanna Township’s land. Water is left out: Savanna Township has 13.4 square miles of land and 7.6 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Savanna Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Army Corps of Engineers4,810 ac
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service859 ac
State conservation120 ac
Regional agency57 ac
Private owners25 ac
Recreation Management Area · 4,810 acNational Wildlife Refuge · 859 acConservation Easement · 120 acLocal Park · 57 acPrivate Historic or Cultural · 25 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 120 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ms Rv Pools 11-22 Recreation Area Recreation Management Area | Army Corps of Engineers | 4,810 | Open |
| Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife And Fish Refuge National Wildlife Refuge | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 859 | Restricted |
| Old Mill Park Local Park | Regional agency | 49 | Open |
| Savanna South Railroad Prairie Natural Heritage Landmark Private Historic or Cultural | Private owners | 25 | Closed |
| Maquette Park Local Park | Regional agency | 5 | Open |
| Elkay Park Local Park | Regional agency | 2 | Open |
| 6Th Street Park Local Park | Regional agency | 1 | Open |
Things to do
10 places to go in Savanna Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Savanna Township
5 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Savanna Township
5 boat launches without a name on the map.
Trails & water
5 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
5.2 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
5.2 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
5Basketball
1Skate park
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
April is the best month for walking in Savanna 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) | 9.4 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.2 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 30 | 34 | 47 | 61 | 72 | 81 | 84 | 82 | 76 | 63 | 48 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 1.4 | 1.7 | 2.3 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 5.3 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 3.7 | 2.8 | 2.3 | 1.9 |
January is the driest month (1.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 5.3 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Savanna Township →
Next door
Savanna Township and its neighbors
Savanna Township has the second most mapped trails of the 5 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Washington Township15 miSavanna Township7.5 miYork Township5.8 miMount Carroll Township0.7 miSabula0.1 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Savanna Township | 63% | 0.6 | 52 | 80% | A |
| Washington Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Mount Carroll Township | 1% | under 0.1 | 15 | 72% | C |
| York Township | 18% | 0.1 | under 1 | 15% | C |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Savanna Township
Where can I hike in Savanna Township?
The longest trail networks: Old Mill Park, 0.4 miles; Maquette Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Savanna Township is conserved land?
63% 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 Savanna Township’s trails?
Old Mill Park and Ayers Sand Prairie State Nature Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Savanna Township?
5.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 5.2 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Savanna Township?
16,972 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Savanna Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 5,010 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Savanna Township have?
Ahead of 91% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #77 of 768 in Illinois. 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 Savanna 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 →