R. Robert Funderburg Forest Preserve
Managed by Forest Preserves of Winnebago County
857 acres9.8 mi of trail
Red TrailBlue TrailGreen TrailBlack Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Ben Jacobson (Kranar Drogin) · CC BY 2.5B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Winnebago Township
Winnebago Township has 185 acres of parks, 37 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: R. Robert Funderburg Forest Preserve (9.8 mi), Harry A. & Fanny B. Severson Dells Forest Preserve (4.2 mi). 41% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 15 miles of mapped trail cross Winnebago Township, 0.5 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 51% of U.S. towns · #494 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
275 acres · of 32.9 sq mi of land
Trails
15 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
185 ac
37 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
41%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
6.6 mi
6.6 mi paths
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Winnebago Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Winnebago Township is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns, #494 of 768 in Illinois. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Winnebago Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (15 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4BPark land37 acres of park per 1,000 residents (185 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home41% of residents within a half mile of a park · IL 88% · U.S. 72%C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 51%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 36%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ 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 R. Robert Funderburg Forest Preserve, with 9.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Harry A. & Fanny B. Severson Dells Forest Preserve
Managed by Forest Preserves of Winnebago County
352 acres4.2 mi of trail
Blue TrailRed TrailOrange Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Howard D. Colman Dells Nature Preserve
Managed by Natural Land Institute
56 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Howard Colman Hall Creek Preserve
Managed by Byron Forest Preserve District
2 acres0.2 mi of trail
Bridge Loop
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
275 conserved acres
1% of Winnebago Township’s land. Who manages Winnebago Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State conservation182 ac
Town or city93 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits53 ac
Private owners38 ac
Regional agency2 ac
Conservation Easement · 182 acState Conservation Area · 94 acLocal Park · 90 acLocal Recreation Area · 3 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 92 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roy Gayle Park Acq Local Park | Town or city | 59 | Open |
| Howard D. Colman Dells Preserve State Conservation Area | Land trusts & nonprofits | 53 | Open |
| Severson Dells Nature Preserve State Conservation Area | Private owners | 38 | Closed |
| Winnebago Sports Park Local Park | Town or city | 31 | Open |
| Memorial Park Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Howard Colman Hall Creek Preserve State Conservation Area | Regional agency | 2 | Closed |
Things to do
3 places to go in Winnebago Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Winnebago Township
The GroveIn Harry A. & Fanny B. Severson Dells Forest Preserve
DirectionsPlus 2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
5 named trails
Named trails
Unpaved · 14.2 mi
Red Trail3.7 mi
Blue Trail2.8 mi
Orange Trail1.7 mi
Green Trail1.1 mi
Black Trail1.0 mi
Biking & sports
6.6 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
6.6 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
12Baseball
3Football
2Tennis
2Soccer
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
September is the best month for walking in Winnebago Township
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 | 15.2 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 29 | 33 | 46 | 59 | 71 | 80 | 83 | 81 | 75 | 62 | 47 | 34 |
| Rain (in) | 1.6 | 1.7 | 2.3 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 5.3 | 3.9 | 4.0 | 3.7 | 2.9 | 2.4 | 2.0 |
January is the driest month (1.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 5.3 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Winnebago Township →
Next door
Winnebago Township and its neighbors
Winnebago Township has the second most mapped trails of the 5 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Rockford Township51 miWinnebago Township15 miByron Township12 miSeward Township8.8 miBurritt Township1.6 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winnebago Township | 1% | 0.5 | 37 | 41% | B− |
| Rockford Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Seward Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Byron Township | 3% | 0.3 | 45 | 65% | B |
| Burritt Township | 1% | under 0.1 | 195 | 27% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Winnebago Township
Where can I hike in Winnebago Township?
The longest trail networks: R. Robert Funderburg Forest Preserve, 9.8 miles; Harry A. & Fanny B. Severson Dells Forest Preserve, 4.2 miles; Howard D. Colman Dells Nature Preserve, 0.1 miles; Howard Colman Hall Creek Preserve, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Winnebago Township is conserved land?
1% 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 Winnebago Township’s trails?
R. Robert Funderburg Forest Preserve and Harry A. & Fanny B. Severson Dells Forest Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Winnebago Township?
6.6 miles of bike routes are on the map: 6.6 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Winnebago Township?
8,265 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Winnebago Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 185 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Winnebago Township have?
Ahead of 51% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #494 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 Winnebago 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 →