Salt Lick Point Land and Water Reserve
Nature preserve
850 acres6.8 mi of trail
Newman TrailSalt Lick Point TrailJohnson Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
AOutdoors
Outdoors in Valmeyer
37% of Valmeyer’s land is conserved: 804 acres
7.2 miles of mapped trail cross Valmeyer, 2.1 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Salt Lick Point Land and Water Reserve (6.8 mi). 35 acres are parks and preserves, 32 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 93% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
37%
804 acres · of 3.4 sq mi of land
Trails
7.2 mi
2.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
35 ac
32 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
68%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Valmeyer?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Valmeyer have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Valmeyer is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; conserved land ranks highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Valmeyer’s overall grade.
Conserved land37% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%A+Trails2.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (7 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4APark land32 acres of park per 1,000 residents (35 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home68% 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 93%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A 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 Salt Lick Point Land and Water Reserve, with 6.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
804 conserved acres
37% of Valmeyer’s land. Who manages Valmeyer’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Private owners671 ac
State conservation601 ac
Town or city5 ac
Conservation Easement · 588 acPrivate Conservation · 555 acState Conservation Area · 116 acUnknown Easement · 14 acLocal Park · 5 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 128 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salt Lick Point Land and Water Reserve Private Conservation | Private owners | 483 | Closed |
| Potato Hill Natural Area State Conservation Area | Private owners | 116 | Closed |
| Columbia Hill Prairie Private Conservation | Private owners | 72 | Restricted |
| Borsch Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
Things to do
6 places to go in Valmeyer
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Valmeyer
4 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Waterfalls in Valmeyer
1 waterfall without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Scenic views in Valmeyer
1 scenic view without a name on the map.
Trails & water
3 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 6.8 mi
Newman Trail1.7 mi
Salt Lick Point Trail1.5 mi
Johnson Trail1.2 mi
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
5Baseball
3Softball
3Basketball
1Beach volleyball
1Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The walking year in Valmeyer
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) | 9.8 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.1 | 14.2 | 14.8 | 14.6 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| High (°F) | 41 | 47 | 57 | 69 | 77 | 86 | 89 | 88 | 81 | 70 | 56 | 46 |
| Rain (in) | 2.6 | 2.5 | 3.6 | 4.8 | 5.0 | 4.1 | 4.0 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 3.5 | 2.7 |
February is the driest month (2.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 89 °F). 5.0 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 89 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Valmeyer →
Questions about parks and trails in Valmeyer
Where can I hike in Valmeyer?
The longest trail networks: Salt Lick Point Land and Water Reserve, 6.8 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Valmeyer is conserved land?
37% 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 Valmeyer’s trails?
Salt Lick Point Land and Water Reserve and Borsch Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Valmeyer?
3,663 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Valmeyer or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 35 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Valmeyer have?
Ahead of 93% 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 Valmeyer 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 →