1
High Point Conservation Area
Nature preserve
245 acres0.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Outdoors · Alden
Alden, IL parks, trails & bike paths
About 9.1% of Alden is conserved land, roughly 1,928 acres. There are about 13 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in High Point Conservation Area (0.9 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Alden, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Alden outdoors
Conserved land
9.1%
1,928 of 21,142 acres
Trails
13 mi
0.4 mi per sq mi
Parks & preserves
3
1,284 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
0.0 mi
0.0 mi lanes · 0.0 mi off-road paths
Conserved land is a share of the whole town area. Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number or a place below to zoom in© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Parks & preserves with trails
Ranked by mapped trail miles. Directions go to the nearest marked trailhead or public parking.
2
Alden-Sedge Meadow Conservation Area
Nature preserve
601 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
3
Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge
Managed by United States Fish and Wildlife Service
148 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Website
Things to do
Beaches, playgrounds, falls & more
Pick a kind of place for the list, directions, or pins on the map above.
Peaks in Alden
High Point1,188 ft elevation · In High Point Conservation Area
Water
Lakes & rivers
Tap a name for directions.
Who protects the land
1,928 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 795 acres are conservation easements, which are usually private land. Public access isn't recorded for 1 of 27 parcels. The places listed above are parks and preserves people visit.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes0.0 mi
- Off-road bike paths0.0 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.0 mi
Courts & fields
- Tennis1
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Public lands
The biggest protected places in Alden
From USGS PAD-US: who manages each one and whether visitors are welcome.
Conservation Easement 798 acLocal Conservation Area 728 acUnknown 210 acNational Wildlife Refuge 148 acState Recreation Area 44 ac
Showing 1–10 of 13 places
| Place | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alden Sedge Meadow 4Local Conservation Area | Regional agency | 225 | Restricted |
| High Point 1Unknown | Regional agency | 203 | Access unknown |
| Alden Sedge Meadow 10Local Conservation Area | Regional agency | 189 | Restricted |
| Hackmatack National Wildlife RefugeNational Wildlife Refuge | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 148 | Restricted |
| Bailey Woods/Nichols 2Local Conservation Area | Regional agency | 119 | Open |
| Alden Sedge Meadow 7Local Conservation Area | Regional agency | 85 | Restricted |
| Bailey Woods/Nichols 5Local Conservation Area | Regional agency | 48 | Open |
| High Point 2State Recreation Area | Regional agency | 44 | Open |
| Alden Sedge Meadow 5Local Conservation Area | Regional agency | 43 | Restricted |
| Alden Sedge Meadow 9Local Conservation Area | Regional agency | 10 | Restricted |
History
Historic places to visit
Alden CemetaryCemetery
Nearby
Alden and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Alden's trails yet. Muddy, icy, a bridge out, where to park: a quick post helps the next person.
Sources: trails, parks, preserves, courts and bike lanes © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), map data as of 2026-09-28. Conserved land: USGS Gap Analysis Project, Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US). Measured against the Census town boundary.
How we measure
"Trails" are OpenStreetMap paths, bridleways, public tracks and unpaved footways, plus footways inside a park or preserve or on a named trail route. Sidewalks are left out. Areas are counted on a 20-meter grid, so overlapping parcels count once. "Conserved" includes conservation easements, which protect land from development but are usually private property. Trailheads are the nearest marked trailhead, public parking lot or information board within about 150 meters of a preserve. Dog rules come from OpenStreetMap when someone has tagged them; otherwise we show what's typical for the land manager, or say the rules aren't recorded.