Virgil Forest Preserve
Managed by Forest Preserve District of Kane County
1,141 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Bnperdue2010 · CC BY-SA 4.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Virgil Township
Virgil Township has 1,165 acres of parks, 679 for every 1,000 residents
7% of Virgil Township’s land is conserved, about 1,533 acres. 6.0 miles of mapped trail cross Virgil Township, 0.2 per square mile of land. 61% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 71% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
7%
1,533 acres · of 35.0 sq mi of land
Trails
6.0 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
1,165 ac
679 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
61%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.1 mi
0.1 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Virgil Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Virgil Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Virgil Township is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Virgil Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land7% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (6 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land679 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,165 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home61% 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 71%
LessMore
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.
Elburn Forest Preserve
Managed by Forest Preserve District of Kane County
53 acres0.1 mi of trail
Eastwoods Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
McAdams Park
Park
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
1,533 conserved acres
7% of Virgil Township’s land. Who manages Virgil Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Regional agency1,153 ac
Joint238 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)238 ac
County102 ac
Private owners34 ac
Town or city5 ac
Local Other or Unknown · 1,077 acAgricultural Easement · 577 acLocal Conservation Area · 76 acPrivate Conservation · 34 acLocal Park · 5 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 340 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 7 of 16 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virgil Forest Preserve 3 Local Other or Unknown | Regional agency | 422 | Unknown |
| Virgil Forest Preserve 1 Local Other or Unknown | Regional agency | 213 | Unknown |
| Virgil Forest Preserve 5 Local Other or Unknown | Regional agency | 195 | Unknown |
| Virgil Forest Preserve 7 Local Other or Unknown | Regional agency | 123 | Unknown |
| Great Western Trail Local Conservation Area | Regional agency | 76 | Open |
| Virgil Forest Preserve 6 Local Other or Unknown | Regional agency | 62 | Unknown |
| Virgil Forest Preserve 2 Local Other or Unknown | Regional agency | 41 | Unknown |
| Elburn Forest Preserve Private Conservation | Private owners | 34 | Closed |
| Virgil Forest Preserve 8 Local Other or Unknown | Regional agency | 22 | Unknown |
| South Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
2 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
3 places to go in Virgil Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Virgil Township
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
2 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 5.8 miUnpaved · 5.9 mi
Great Western Trail5.8 mi
Eastwoods Trail0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.1 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.1 mi
off-road bike paths
Great Western TrailBike route
5.8 miCourts & fields
4Equestrian
2Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Virgil Township: 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 | 84 | 82 | 75 | 62 | 47 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 1.8 | 1.7 | 2.2 | 3.7 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 3.8 | 4.0 | 3.4 | 3.2 | 2.5 | 2.0 |
February is the driest month (1.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.6 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Virgil Township →
Next door
Virgil Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Campton Township32 miBurlington Township7.0 miVirgil Township6.0 miCortland Township5.0 miKaneville Township4.9 miLily Lake1.9 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virgil Township | 7% | 0.2 | 679 | 61% | B+ |
| Campton Township | 13% | 0.9 | 114 | 79% | A |
| Kaneville Township | 16% | 0.1 | 104 | 2% | B |
| Cortland Township | 1% | 0.1 | 11 | 83% | C+ |
| Lily Lake | 3% | 0.7 | 46 | 87% | A− |
| Burlington Township | 5% | 0.2 | 261 | 26% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Virgil Township
Where can I hike in Virgil Township?
The longest trail networks: Elburn Forest Preserve, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Virgil Township is conserved land?
7% 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 Virgil Township’s trails?
Virgil Forest Preserve and Elburn Forest Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Virgil Township?
0.1 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.1 of off-road paths. Named routes: Great Western Trail.
Is there public land near Virgil Township?
18,311 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Virgil Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,165 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Virgil Township have?
Ahead of 71% 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 Virgil Township 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 →