Summit Park
Managed by Summit Park District
56 acres0.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: vx700 · CC BY 3.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Summit
5% of Summit’s land is conserved, and virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. The biggest trail networks: Summit Park (0.9 mi). 5% of Summit’s land is conserved, about 72 acres.
Ahead of 72% of U.S. towns · #275 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
72 acres · of 2.1 sq mi of land
Trails
0.9 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
90 ac
8.3 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Summit?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Summit have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Summit is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns, #275 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 Summit’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4BPark land8.3 acres of park per 1,000 residents (90 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · IL 88% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 72%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 64%
Water is 6% of Summit’s area (0 of 2 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 5%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B 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 Summit Park, with 0.9 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Hanover Park
Managed by Summit Park District
2 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Legion Park
Managed by Summit Park District
2 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
72 conserved acres
5% of Summit’s land. Water is left out: Summit has 2.1 square miles of land and 0.1 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Summit’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city69 ac
Regional agency3 ac
Local Park · 72 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summit Park Local Park | Town or city | 67 | Open |
| Hanover Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Legion Park Local Park | Regional agency | 2 | Open |
| Argo Park Local Park | Regional agency | 1 | Open |
Things to do
5 places to go in Summit
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Summit
5 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Biking & sports
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Courts & fields
6Tennis
5Baseball
5Basketball
1Soccer
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Summit: April, July 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 | 47 | 60 | 71 | 81 | 84 | 82 | 76 | 63 | 49 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.0 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 3.9 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 3.3 | 3.6 | 2.6 | 2.1 |
February is the driest month (1.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.5 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Summit →
Next door
Summit and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Chicago242 miLyons Township27 miLyons2.0 miStickney Township2.0 miBedford Park1.5 miSummit0.9 miForest View0.0 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summit | 5% | 0.4 | 8 | 99%+ | B+ |
| Bedford Park | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Lyons Township | 3% | 0.8 | 7 | 98% | B+ |
| Chicago | 8% | 1.1 | 4 | 99% | A− |
| Lyons | 1% | 0.9 | 2 | 95% | B− |
| Stickney Township | 3% | 0.2 | 5 | 99% | B− |
| Forest View | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Summit
Where can I hike in Summit?
The longest trail networks: Summit Park, 0.9 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Summit is conserved land?
5% 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 Summit’s trails?
Summit Park and Argo Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Summit?
10,209 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Summit or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 90 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Summit have?
Ahead of 72% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #275 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 Summit 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 →