Kilgour Park
Park
13 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: KWayne1 · CC BY-SA 4.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Sterling
96% of residents live within a half mile of a park in Sterling
The biggest trail networks: Kilgour Park (0.5 mi), Platt Park (0.5 mi). 2.8 miles of mapped trail cross Sterling, 0.5 per square mile of land. 4% of Sterling’s land is conserved, about 143 acres.
Ahead of 67% of U.S. towns · #330 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
4%
143 acres · of 5.9 sq mi of land
Trails
2.8 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
159 ac
11 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
96%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
4.3 mi
3.1 mi lanes · 1.2 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Sterling?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Sterling have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Sterling is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns, #330 of 768 in Illinois. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Sterling’s overall grade.
Conserved land4% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (3 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4BPark land11 acres of park per 1,000 residents (159 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to home96% 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 67%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 57%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B 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 Kilgour Park, with 0.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Gartner Park
Park
36 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Eberly Park
Park
25 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 16 parks & preserves
Kilgour Park13 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
Platt Park8 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
DirectionsCentral Memorial Park3 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsWallace Park3 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsDillon Home7 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsRedfield Park4 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Propheter Park3 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsGartner Park36 acres
Eberly Park25 acres
Thomas Park12 acres
DirectionsScheid Park11 acres
DirectionsHarry Kidd Field3 acres
DirectionsLincoln Park2 acres
DirectionsDougllas Park2 acres
Martin's Landing1 acres
DirectionsDale Park1 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
143 conserved acres
4% of Sterling’s land. Who manages Sterling’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city142 ac
Local Park · 134 acUnknown · 5 acLocal Recreation Area · 3 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gartner Park Local Park | Town or city | 30 | Open |
| Eberly Park Local Park | Town or city | 24 | Open |
| Thomas Park Local Park | Town or city | 20 | Open |
| Kilgour Park Local Park | Town or city | 12 | Open |
| Scheid Park Local Park | Town or city | 12 | Open |
| Duis Recreation Center, Frasor Center Administrative Offices, and Skate Park Local Park | Town or city | 8 | Open |
| Platt Park Local Park | Town or city | 7 | Open |
| Dillon Home Museum and Martin's Landing & Sinnissippi Dam Walkway Unknown | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Safety Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Redfield Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
15 places to go in Sterling
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Sterling
13 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Sterling
2 dog parks without a name on the map.
Trails & water
1 named trail and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 0.6 mi
Sinnissippi Dam Walkway0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
4.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
3.1 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
1.2 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
14Tennis
13Basketball
10Baseball
6Soccer
6Tracks
6Pickleball
3Football
1Skate park
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Sterling: 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) | 30 | 35 | 48 | 61 | 72 | 81 | 84 | 82 | 76 | 63 | 48 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 1.7 | 1.8 | 2.5 | 3.8 | 4.7 | 5.2 | 4.1 | 4.0 | 3.7 | 2.9 | 2.4 | 2.1 |
January is the driest month (1.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 5.2 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Sterling →
Next door
Sterling 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sterling | 4% | 0.5 | 11 | 96% | B+ |
| Coloma Township | 3% | 0.3 | 23 | 91% | B+ |
| Sterling Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Rock Falls | 5% | 0.5 | 20 | 99% | A− |
| Hopkins Township | 1% | 0.1 | 45 | 6% | C |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Sterling
Where can I hike in Sterling?
The longest trail networks: Kilgour Park, 0.5 miles; Platt Park, 0.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Sterling 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 Sterling’s trails?
Kilgour Park and Platt Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Sterling?
4.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.1 of painted or protected lanes and 1.2 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Sterling?
2,596 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Sterling or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 159 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Sterling have?
Ahead of 67% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #330 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 Sterling 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 →