Grassy Lake Forest Preserve
Managed by Lake County Forest Preserves
2 acres
Dogs on leash
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Tower Lakes
12% of Tower Lakes’ land is conserved: 75 acres
92% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 26 acres are parks and preserves, 23 per 1,000 residents. 0.1 miles of mapped trail cross Tower Lakes, 0.1 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 72% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
12%
75 acres · of 0.9 sq mi of land
Trails
0.1 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
26 ac
23 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
92%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Tower Lakes?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Tower Lakes have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Tower Lakes is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Tower Lakes’ overall grade.
Conserved land12% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4CPark land23 acres of park per 1,000 residents (26 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home92% 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 72%
LessMore
Water is 12% of Tower Lakes’ area (0 of 1 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 11%.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Tower Lakes. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on them.
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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
75 conserved acres
12% of Tower Lakes’ land. Water is left out: Tower Lakes has 0.9 square miles of land and 0.1 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Tower Lakes’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits37 ac
State conservation35 ac
Private owners26 ac
Town or city8 ac
Conservation Easement · 49 acLocal Conservation Area · 23 acLocal Park · 23 acState Conservation Area · 11 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 17 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Citizens For Conservation Open Space Local Conservation Area | Land trusts & nonprofits | 23 | Open |
| Tower Lakes Fen Nature Preserve State Conservation Area | Private owners | 11 | Closed |
| Roses Park Local Park | Private owners | 10 | Open |
| Wagner Fen Nature Preserve Local Park | Town or city | 8 | Open |
| Hussissian Park Local Park | Private owners | 1 | Open |
| Barsumian Park Local Park | Private owners | 1 | Open |
| Gorden Lewis Park Local Park | Private owners | 1 | Open |
| Bays Park Local Park | Private owners | 1 | Open |
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
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
2Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Tower Lakes: 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) | 9.4 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.2 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 30 | 34 | 46 | 58 | 70 | 79 | 83 | 82 | 75 | 62 | 47 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 1.8 | 1.8 | 2.3 | 3.8 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 3.5 | 3.2 | 2.5 | 2.1 |
February is the driest month (1.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.5 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Tower Lakes →
Next door
Tower Lakes and its neighbors
Tower Lakes has the second most mapped trails of the 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tower Lakes | 12% | 0.1 | 23 | 92% | B+ |
| Lake Barrington | 9% | 0.2 | 35 | 67% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Tower Lakes
How much of Tower Lakes is conserved land?
12% 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 Tower Lakes’ trails?
OpenStreetMap records dogs as welcome at Grassy Lake Forest Preserve (on leash). For the rest, check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Tower Lakes?
16,509 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Tower Lakes or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 40 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Tower Lakes have?
Ahead of 72% 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 Tower Lakes 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 →