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Whiting business districtPhoto: Nyttend · Public domain
A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Whiting

6% of Whiting’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. The biggest trail networks: Whiting Lakefront Park (0.7 mi). 6% of Whiting’s land is conserved, about 70 acres.

Ahead of 81% of U.S. towns · #34 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it

Conserved land
6%
70 acres · of 1.8 sq mi of land
Trails
0.8 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
74 ac
16 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.3 mi
3.3 mi paths

What kind of outdoors town is Whiting?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Parks close to homeVirtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park.History along the way4 places on the National Register.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Whiting have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Whiting is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns, #34 of 593 in Indiana. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park ranks highest, park acres per resident lowest.

A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Whiting’s overall grade.
Conserved land6% of the land · typical IN town 2% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · IN 0.1 · U.S. 0.4BPark land16 acres of park per 1,000 residents (74 acres) · IN 10 · U.S. 13BParks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · IN 51% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 81%
LessMore
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)Ahead of 94%

Few Indiana towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Whiting’s 6% is ahead of 85% of Indiana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 79% of them.

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.

123
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 Whiting Lakefront Park, with 0.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Whiting Lakefront Park

Managed by Whiting Parks & Recreation
26 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Whihala Beach County Park

Managed by Lake County Parks & Recreation
17 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗

Tom Smolen Park

Managed by Whiting Parks & Recreation
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it

70 conserved acres

6% of Whiting’s land. Who manages Whiting’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

County48 ac
Town or city21 ac
Local Park · 48 acLocal Recreation Area · 16 acLocal Historic or Cultural Area · 5 ac
The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Whiting Park
Local Park
County25Open
Whihala Beach County Park
Local Park
County23Open
Whiting Municpal Sports Complex
Local Recreation Area
Town or city16Open
Unknown Park
Local Historic or Cultural Area
Town or city5Open
Things to do

10 places to go in Whiting

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Playgrounds in Whiting
Atchison Avenue Tot Lot
Directions

Plus 6 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.

Biking & sports

3.3 miles of bike routes

Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.

3.3 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
4Baseball
1Basketball
1Football

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

4 places 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.

History →
Whiting Memorial Community HouseBuilding · listed 1980
About it
Hoosier Theater BuildingBuilding · listed 1987
About it
Henry and Caroline Schrage HouseBuilding · listed 2021
About it
St. Mary's Byzantine Catholic Parish CampusBuilding · listed 2026
About it
When to get out

The best walking months in Whiting: July 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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.510.511.813.314.515.214.913.812.411.09.89.2
High (°F)333747586979838175634938
Rain (in)2.21.82.33.74.24.23.84.03.43.52.72.1

February is the driest month (1.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.2 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Whiting →

Next door

Whiting and its neighbors

Tap a town to see its outdoors.

North Township42 miHammond14 miEast Chicago11 miWhiting0.8 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Whiting6%0.41699%+A−
North Township6%0.81498%A−
Hammond6%0.61396%A−
East Chicago4%0.8899%+B+

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in Whiting

Where can I hike in Whiting?

The longest trail networks: Whiting Lakefront Park, 0.7 miles; Whihala Beach County Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Whiting is conserved land?

6% of its land, against a typical 2% for an Indiana town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.

Are dogs allowed on Whiting’s trails?

Whiting Lakefront Park and Whihala Beach County Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Where can I bike in Whiting?

3.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.3 of off-road paths.

Is there public land near Whiting?

8,267 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Whiting or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 74 of them inside the city line.

How much outdoors does Whiting have?

Ahead of 81% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #34 of 593 in Indiana. 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 Whiting neighbors.

Town Square →
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 →