Homer T. Cook Memorial Park
Park
47 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Transport6087 · CC BY-SA 4.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Wauconda
8% of Wauconda’s land is conserved: 253 acres
84% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 0.7 miles of mapped trail cross Wauconda, 0.1 per square mile of land. 140 acres are parks and preserves, 10.0 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 56% of U.S. towns · #445 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
8%
253 acres · of 5.1 sq mi of land
Trails
0.7 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
140 ac
10.0 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
84%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
4.8 mi
0.2 mi lanes · 4.6 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Wauconda?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Wauconda have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Wauconda is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns, #445 of 768 in Illinois. Conserved land holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Wauconda’s overall grade.
Conserved land8% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land10.0 acres of park per 1,000 residents (140 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to home84% 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 56%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 42%
Water is 12% of Wauconda’s area (1 of 6 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 7%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to B+. 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 Homer T. Cook Memorial Park, with 0.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Lakewood Forest Preserve
Managed by Lake County Forest Preserves
114 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Saddlewood Park
Park
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 9 parks & preserves
Homer T. Cook Memorial Park47 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
DirectionsLiberty Lakes Park1 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Lakewood Forest Preserve114 acres · Lake County Forest Preserves
Fieldbrook Park10 acres
DirectionsSaddlewood Park3 acres
Osage Park2 acres
DirectionsMemorial Park1 acres
DirectionsBeach Park1 acres
DirectionsOak Grove Park1 acres
Who protects it
253 conserved acres
8% of Wauconda’s land. Water is left out: Wauconda has 5.1 square miles of land and 0.7 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Wauconda’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Regional agency134 ac
State conservation117 ac
Town or city43 ac
Local Park · 131 acUnknown Easement · 117 acUnknown · 43 acLocal Resource Management Area · 3 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 114 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cook Memorial Park Local Park | Regional agency | 47 | Open |
| Unnamed Property Unknown | Town or city | 43 | Open |
| Unknown Park Local Park | Regional agency | 38 | Open |
| Lagoon Park Local Park | Regional agency | 16 | Open |
| Fieldbrook Park Local Park | Regional agency | 9 | Open |
| Fishhook Park Local Park | Regional agency | 4 | Open |
| Beach Park Local Park | Regional agency | 3 | Open |
| Sedgebrook Park Local Park | Regional agency | 3 | Open |
| Saddlewood Park Local Park | Regional agency | 3 | Open |
| Meadow View Park Local Park | Regional agency | 3 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
25 places to go in Wauconda
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Wauconda
Phil's BeachFee
DirectionsPlus 4 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Wauconda
2 boat launches without a name on the map.
Biking & sports
4.8 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.2 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
4.6 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
13Tennis
12Baseball
5Soccer
4Basketball
1Football
1Lacrosse
1Multi-sport
1Softball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Wauconda: 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 | 3.5 | 3.2 | 2.5 | 2.1 |
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 Wauconda →
Next door
Wauconda 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wauconda | 8% | 0.1 | 10 | 84% | B |
| Wauconda Township | 5% | 0.1 | 14 | 81% | B− |
| Fremont Township | 17% | 0.8 | 66 | 90% | A |
| Lake Barrington | 9% | 0.2 | 35 | 67% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Wauconda
Where can I hike in Wauconda?
The longest trail networks: Homer T. Cook Memorial Park, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Wauconda is conserved land?
8% 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 Wauconda’s trails?
Homer T. Cook Memorial Park and Lakewood Forest Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Wauconda?
4.8 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.2 of painted or protected lanes and 4.6 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Wauconda?
23,331 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Wauconda or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 145 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Wauconda have?
Ahead of 56% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #445 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 Wauconda 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 →