Old Mill Park
Park
25 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Elmwood Cemetery Gates · Photo: Andy McMurray · CC BY 2.5B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Sycamore
8% of Sycamore’s land is conserved: 520 acres
The biggest trail networks: Old Mill Park (0.5 mi). 87% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 374 acres are parks and preserves, 20 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 70% of U.S. towns · #299 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
8%
520 acres · of 10.1 sq mi of land
Trails
2.3 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
374 ac
20 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
87%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
9.9 mi
3.1 mi lanes · 6.9 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Sycamore?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Sycamore have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Sycamore is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns, #299 of 768 in Illinois. Conserved land holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Sycamore’s overall grade.
Conserved land8% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land20 acres of park per 1,000 residents (374 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13BParks close to home87% of residents within a half mile of a park · IL 88% · U.S. 72%B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 70%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 61%
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 Old Mill Park, with 0.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Leon D. Larson Memorial Park
Park
22 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Kiwanis Park
Park
6 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Founders Park
Park
4 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
520 conserved acres
8% of Sycamore’s land. Who manages Sycamore’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city467 ac
Regional agency53 ac
State Conservation Area · 144 acLocal Park · 140 acUnknown · 130 acLocal Recreation Area · 106 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parkside Preserve State Conservation Area | Town or city | 132 | Closed |
| Sycamore Community Park & Sports Complex Unknown | Town or city | 114 | Open |
| Sycamore Golf Course & Golf Club House Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 106 | Open |
| Emil Cassier Park Local Park | Town or city | 70 | Open |
| Old Mill Park Local Park | Regional agency | 22 | Open |
| Leon D Larson Memorial Park Local Park | Regional agency | 21 | Open |
| Reston Ponds Unknown | Town or city | 14 | Open |
| Future Park Local Park | Town or city | 13 | Open |
| Chief Black Partridge Nature Preserve State Conservation Area | Town or city | 12 | Open |
| Brothers Park Local Park | Regional agency | 4 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
14 places to go in Sycamore
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Sycamore
Sycamore Swimming Pool
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Sycamore
12 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Sycamore
Sycamore Park District Brian Bemis Family Dog ParkHours: sunrise-sunset
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Great Western Trail0.2 mi
Biking & sports
9.9 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
6.9 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
11Tennis
2Basketball
2Football
2Soccer
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →5 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 2 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Sycamore: 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) | 9.4 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 29 | 34 | 46 | 59 | 71 | 80 | 83 | 81 | 75 | 62 | 47 | 34 |
| Rain (in) | 1.8 | 1.7 | 2.2 | 3.7 | 4.5 | 4.8 | 3.9 | 4.0 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 2.5 | 2.0 |
February is the driest month (1.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.8 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Sycamore →
Next door
Sycamore 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sycamore | 8% | 0.2 | 20 | 87% | B+ |
| DeKalb | 7% | 0.4 | 20 | 99% | A− |
| Sycamore Township | 2% | 0.2 | 28 | 83% | B− |
| Mayfield Township | — 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 Sycamore
Where can I hike in Sycamore?
The longest trail networks: Old Mill Park, 0.5 miles; Leon D. Larson Memorial Park, 0.3 miles; Kiwanis Park, 0.1 miles; Founders Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Sycamore is conserved land?
8% 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 Sycamore’s trails?
Old Mill Park and Leon D. Larson Memorial Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Sycamore?
9.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.1 of painted or protected lanes and 6.9 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Sycamore?
5,863 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Sycamore or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 405 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Sycamore have?
Ahead of 70% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #299 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 Sycamore 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 →