Centennial Park
Park
23 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
BOutdoors
Outdoors in Walnut
6% of Walnut’s land is conserved, and virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 30 acres are parks and preserves, 24 per 1,000 residents. 6% of Walnut’s land is conserved, about 30 acres.
Ahead of 62% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
6%
30 acres · of 0.8 sq mi of land
Trails
0.0 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
30 ac
24 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Walnut?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Walnut have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Walnut is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Walnut’s overall grade.
Conserved land6% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4DPark land24 acres of park per 1,000 residents (30 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · IL 88% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 62%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ 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.
Blue Raider Park
Nature preserve
5 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Depot Street Park
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
30 conserved acres
6% of Walnut’s land. Who manages Walnut’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city29 ac
Local Park · 29 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Centennial Park Local Park | Town or city | 23 | Open |
| Blue Raider Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Depot Street Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
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
3Baseball
2Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Walnut: 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) | 9.5 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 30 | 35 | 48 | 61 | 72 | 81 | 84 | 82 | 77 | 64 | 48 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 1.7 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 4.9 | 3.9 | 3.9 | 3.5 | 3.0 | 2.5 | 2.1 |
January is the driest month (1.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.9 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Walnut →
Questions about parks and trails in Walnut
How much of Walnut is conserved land?
6% 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 Walnut’s trails?
Centennial Park and Blue Raider Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Walnut?
3,425 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Walnut or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 31 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Walnut have?
Ahead of 62% 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 Walnut 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 →