Cedar Glen State Natural Area
Nature preserve
244 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Warsaw Historic District · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainBOutdoors
Outdoors in Warsaw
12% of Warsaw’s land is conserved: 493 acres
38 acres are parks and preserves, 25 per 1,000 residents. 0.2 miles of mapped trail cross Warsaw. 69% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 58% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
12%
493 acres · of 6.5 sq mi of land
Trails
0.2 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
38 ac
25 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
69%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Warsaw?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Warsaw have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Warsaw is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Warsaw’s overall grade.
Conserved land12% 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 land25 acres of park per 1,000 residents (38 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home69% 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 58%
LessMore
Water is 13% of Warsaw’s area (1 of 7 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 10%.
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.
Alice L. Kibbe Life Science Research Station
Nature preserve
184 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Mississippi River Sand Hills State Natural Area
Nature preserve
46 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Geode Glen Park
Nature preserve
13 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 7 parks & preserves
Cedar Glen State Natural Area244 acres
Alice L. Kibbe Life Science Research Station184 acres
Mississippi River Sand Hills State Natural Area46 acres
Geode Glen Park13 acres
Henerhoff Field4 acres
Fort Edwards3 acres
Ralston Park2 acres
Who protects it
493 conserved acres
12% of Warsaw’s land. Water is left out: Warsaw has 6.5 square miles of land and 0.9 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Warsaw’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources290 ac
State conservation282 ac
Other state land174 ac
Town or city28 ac
State Conservation Area · 290 acConservation Easement · 282 acUnknown · 187 acLocal Park · 15 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1 acre is a conservation easement, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cedar Glen State Natural Area State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 246 | Open |
| Alice L. Kibbe Life Science Research Station Unknown | Other state land | 174 | Open |
| Mississippi River Sand Hills State Natural Area State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 44 | Open |
| Geode Glen Park Local Park | Town or city | 13 | Open |
| Unnamed Property Unknown | Town or city | 8 | Open |
| Henerhoff Field Unknown | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Ralston Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Fort Edwards Unknown | Town or city | 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
2Baseball
2Tennis
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Warsaw Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1977
About itWhen to get out
August is the best month for walking in Warsaw
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) | 9.6 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.4 | 15.0 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.9 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 35 | 39 | 52 | 64 | 74 | 83 | 87 | 85 | 79 | 66 | 52 | 39 |
| Rain (in) | 1.7 | 1.9 | 2.5 | 4.0 | 5.1 | 4.9 | 4.2 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 3.2 | 2.5 | 1.9 |
January is the driest month (1.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 5.1 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Warsaw →
Next door
Warsaw and its neighbors
Warsaw has the second most mapped trails of the 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warsaw | 12% | under 0.1 | 25 | 69% | B |
| Warsaw Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Rocky Run-Wilcox Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Warsaw
How much of Warsaw 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 Warsaw’s trails?
Cedar Glen State Natural Area and Alice L. Kibbe Life Science Research Station don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Warsaw?
3,812 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Warsaw or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 212 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Warsaw have?
Ahead of 58% 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 Warsaw 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 →