Marl Flat Forest Preserve
Managed by Lake County Forest Preserves
69 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
BOutdoors
Outdoors in Volo
13% of Volo’s land is conserved: 340 acres
88% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 0.1 miles of mapped trail cross Volo. 141 acres are parks and preserves, 21 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 64% of U.S. towns · #367 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
13%
340 acres · of 4.1 sq mi of land
Trails
0.1 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
141 ac
21 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
88%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
4.0 mi
4.0 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Volo?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Volo have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Volo is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns, #367 of 768 in Illinois. Conserved land holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Volo’s overall grade.
Conserved land13% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land21 acres of park per 1,000 residents (141 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home88% 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 64%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 52%
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.
Singing Hills Forest Preseve
Managed by Lake County Forest Preserves
67 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Symphony Meadows South Park
Park
9 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Volo Bog State Natural Area
Managed by Illinois Department of Natural Resources
6 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
All 5 parks & preserves
Marl Flat Forest Preserve69 acres · Lake County Forest Preserves
DirectionsSinging Hills Forest Preseve67 acres · Lake County Forest Preserves
Symphony Meadows South Park9 acres
Volo Bog State Natural Area6 acres · Illinois Department of Natural Resources
Symphony Meadows North Park2 acres
Who protects it
340 conserved acres
13% of Volo’s land. Who manages Volo’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Regional agency201 ac
Town or city148 ac
State natural resources25 ac
State Conservation Area · 151 acLocal Conservation Area · 130 acLocal Park · 55 acConservation Easement · 38 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fish Lake And Marl Flat Forest Preserve State Conservation Area | Regional agency | 151 | Closed |
| Village Of Volo Open Space Local Conservation Area | Town or city | 93 | Open |
| Burnell C Russell Municipal Complex Local Park | Town or city | 43 | Open |
| Marl Flat 2 Local Conservation Area | Regional agency | 38 | Restricted |
| Symphony Meadows South Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Lancaster Falls Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Millenium Trail Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Symphony Meadows North Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Remington Pointe North Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| Remington Pointe South Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
14 places to go in Volo
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Volo
12 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Campgrounds in Volo
Fish Lake Beach Camping Resort
DirectionsCommunity gardens in Volo
1 community garden without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
4.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
4.0 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
5Basketball
2Soccer
1Pickleball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Volo: July to 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 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 30 | 34 | 45 | 58 | 69 | 79 | 83 | 81 | 74 | 62 | 47 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 1.8 | 1.8 | 2.3 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 3.2 | 2.5 | 2.0 |
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 Volo →
Next door
Volo 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Volo | 13% | under 0.1 | 21 | 88% | B |
| Lakemoor | 3% | 0.4 | 11 | 79% | B |
| Fox Lake | 3% | 0.1 | 14 | 92% | B |
| Grant Township | 16% | 0.5 | 17 | 79% | A− |
| Wauconda Township | 5% | 0.1 | 14 | 81% | B− |
| Round Lake | 6% | 0.2 | 11 | 99% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Volo
How much of Volo is conserved land?
13% 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 Volo’s trails?
Marl Flat Forest Preserve and Singing Hills Forest Preseve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Volo?
4.0 miles of bike routes are on the map: 4.0 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Volo?
25,138 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Volo or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 141 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Volo have?
Ahead of 64% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #367 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 Volo 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 →