Sauk Trail Forest Preserve
Managed by Forest Preserve District of Cook County
210 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
C+Outdoors
Outdoors in South Chicago Heights
98% of residents live within a half mile of a park in South Chicago Heights
35 acres are parks and preserves, 9.0 per 1,000 residents. 3% of South Chicago Heights’ land is conserved, about 34 acres.
Ahead of 42% of U.S. towns · #569 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
34 acres · of 1.6 sq mi of land
Trails
0.0 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
35 ac
9.0 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
98%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.4 mi
1.4 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is South Chicago Heights?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does South Chicago Heights have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, South Chicago Heights is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns, #569 of 768 in Illinois. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of South Chicago Heights’ overall grade.
Conserved land3% 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 land9.0 acres of park per 1,000 residents (35 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home98% 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 42%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 26%
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
34 conserved acres
3% of South Chicago Heights’ land. Who manages South Chicago Heights’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Regional agency29 ac
Town or city4 ac
Local Resource Management Area · 29 acLocal Park · 4 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schubert's Woods Local Resource Management Area | Regional agency | 29 | Open |
| Jackson Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| South Chicago Heights Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
5 places to go in South Chicago Heights
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in South Chicago Heights
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Picnic areas in South Chicago Heights
Sauk Trail Woods Grove 2In Sauk Trail Forest Preserve
DirectionsSauk Trail Woods Grove 3In Sauk Trail Forest Preserve
DirectionsSauk Trail Woods Grove 5In Sauk Trail Forest Preserve
DirectionsSauk Trial Woods Grove 1In Sauk Trail Forest Preserve
DirectionsBiking & sports
1.4 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.4 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
3Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in South Chicago 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) | 32 | 36 | 48 | 60 | 72 | 81 | 84 | 82 | 76 | 64 | 49 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.3 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 3.8 | 4.4 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 4.1 | 3.5 | 3.4 | 2.8 | 2.2 |
February is the driest month (2.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.6 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in South Chicago Heights →
Next door
South Chicago Heights and its neighbors
South Chicago Heights has the second most mapped trails of the 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Chicago Heights | 3% | under 0.1 | 9 | 98% | C+ |
| Steger | 1% | under 0.1 | 2 | 83% | C− |
| Chicago Heights | 3% | 0.3 | 8 | 97% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in South Chicago Heights
How much of South Chicago Heights is conserved land?
3% 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 South Chicago Heights’ trails?
Sauk Trail Forest Preserve and Jackson Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in South Chicago Heights?
1.4 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.4 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near South Chicago Heights?
6,535 acres of parks and open public land lie inside South Chicago Heights or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 35 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does South Chicago Heights have?
Ahead of 42% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #569 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 South Chicago 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 →