Photo: TCP04 · CC BY 4.0Few parks or trails are on the map in St. Elmo
75% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 7 acres are parks and preserves, 5.5 per 1,000 residents. 0.6 miles of mapped trail cross St. Elmo, 0.4 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 38% of U.S. towns. What drives it
How much outdoors does St. Elmo have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, St. Elmo is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
6 conserved acres
1% of St. Elmo’s land. Who manages St. Elmo’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Community Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
August is the best month for walking in St. Elmo
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) | 9.7 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 14.9 | 14.6 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 37 | 42 | 53 | 65 | 75 | 84 | 87 | 86 | 80 | 68 | 53 | 41 |
| Rain (in) | 2.9 | 2.4 | 3.2 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 4.2 | 3.6 | 3.2 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 2.8 |
February is the driest month (2.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 4.8 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in St. Elmo →
Questions about parks and trails in St. Elmo
How much of St. Elmo is conserved land?
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.
Is there public land near St. Elmo?
215 acres of parks and open public land lie inside St. Elmo or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 7 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does St. Elmo have?
Ahead of 38% 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 St. Elmo neighbors.
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 →