Yonder Prairie
Managed by The Land Conservancy of McHenry County
72 acres1.2 mi of trail
Dogs on leash
Directionsto the parking lot
B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Seneca Township
Seneca Township has 290 acres of parks, 101 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Yonder Prairie (1.2 mi), Westwood Conservation Area (0.5 mi). 5.7 miles of mapped trail cross Seneca Township, 0.2 per square mile of land. 40% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 54% of U.S. towns · #469 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
4%
876 acres · of 35.9 sq mi of land
Trails
5.7 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
290 ac
101 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
40%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.1 mi
1.1 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
What kind of outdoors town is Seneca Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Seneca Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Seneca Township is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns, #469 of 768 in Illinois. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Seneca Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land4% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (6 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land101 acres of park per 1,000 residents (290 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13AParks close to home40% 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 54%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 39%
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
The longest trail network is Yonder Prairie, with 1.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Westwood Conservation Area
Park
63 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Pleasant Valley
Managed by McHenry Country Conservation District
453 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Emricson Park
Park
4 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
876 conserved acres
4% of Seneca Township’s land. Who manages Seneca Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits467 ac
Regional agency341 ac
State conservation133 ac
State natural resources88 ac
Town or city64 ac
Conservation Easement · 530 acUnknown · 245 acLocal Conservation Area · 178 acLocal Park · 64 acState Recreation Area · 59 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 313 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 24 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pleasant Valley Northwest Addition Local Conservation Area | Regional agency | 92 | Open |
| Pleasant Valley 12 Local Conservation Area | Regional agency | 86 | Unknown |
| Kishwaukee Mill Race Unknown | Regional agency | 86 | Open |
| Westwood Nature Area Local Park | Town or city | 64 | Open |
| The Land of Oz Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 61 | Open |
| Pleasant Valley 9 State Recreation Area | Regional agency | 57 | Open |
| Yonder Prairie Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 41 | Open |
| E. Tauck Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 28 | Open |
| Yonder Prairie - O'Leary Addition Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 23 | Open |
| Pleasant Valley 11 State Conservation Area | Regional agency | 18 | Unknown |
3 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
1 places to go in Seneca Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Seneca Township
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
2 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
1.1 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.1 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
6Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
September is the best month for walking in Seneca 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 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 29 | 34 | 46 | 59 | 70 | 80 | 83 | 81 | 75 | 62 | 47 | 34 |
| Rain (in) | 1.8 | 1.7 | 2.2 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 4.7 | 4.0 | 3.9 | 3.4 | 3.0 | 2.4 | 1.9 |
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 Seneca Township →
Next door
Seneca Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Dorr Township20 miMarengo Township15 miHartland Township11 miRiley Township6.1 miCoral Township5.9 miSeneca Township5.7 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seneca Township | 4% | 0.2 | 101 | 40% | B− |
| Coral Township | 6% | 0.2 | 224 | 23% | B |
| Dorr Township | 7% | 0.6 | 54 | 85% | A− |
| Marengo Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Hartland Township | 11% | 0.3 | 842 | 19% | B+ |
| Riley Township | 4% | 0.2 | 86 | 60% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Seneca Township
Where can I hike in Seneca Township?
The longest trail networks: Yonder Prairie, 1.2 miles; Westwood Conservation Area, 0.5 miles; Emricson Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Seneca Township is conserved land?
4% 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 Seneca Township’s trails?
OpenStreetMap records dogs as welcome at Yonder Prairie (on leash). For the rest, check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Seneca Township?
1.1 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.1 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Seneca Township?
14,512 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Seneca Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 467 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Seneca Township have?
Ahead of 54% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #469 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 Seneca 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 →