1
Des Plaines State Fish and Wildlife Area
Managed by Illinois Department of Natural Resources
824 acres3.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Outdoors · Channahon
Channahon, IL parks, trails & bike paths
About 30% of Channahon is conserved land, roughly 6,720 acres. There are about 14 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Des Plaines State Fish and Wildlife Area (3.2 mi), McKinley Wood Forest Preserve (2.3 mi), and Central Park (1.3 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Channahon, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Channahon outdoors
Conserved land
30%
6,720 of 22,586 acres
Trails
14 mi
0.4 mi per sq mi · 10 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
7
624 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
18.6 mi
0.0 mi lanes · 18.2 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
McKinley Wood Forest Preserve
Nature preserve
482 acres2.3 mi of trail
Trail of the Old OaksRiver Lookout TrailUpland Ski Trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
3
Central Park
Park
44 acres1.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
4
Arroyo Trails
Park
107 acres1.1 mi of trail
Arroyo Trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
5
Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
Managed by United States Forest Service
1,609 acres0.7 mi of trail
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.
Playgrounds in Channahon
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground in Central Park
Unnamed playground in Central Park
Unnamed playground in Central Park
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground
Trails
Named trails
Open to bikes 1.0 miUnpaved 3.0 mi
- Trail of the Old Oaks1.1 mi
- Arroyo Trail1.0 mi
- River Lookout Trail0.5 mi
- Upland Ski Trail0.3 mi
Water
Lakes & rivers
Tap a name for directions.
Who protects the land
6,720 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 312 acres are conservation easements, which are usually private land. Public access isn't recorded for 1 of 23 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 paths18.2 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.4 mi
- Arroyo Trails (bike route)1 mi
Courts & fields
- Baseball14
- Basketball4
- Tennis3
- Pickleball2
- Football1
- Soccer1
- Beach volleyball1
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Public lands
The biggest protected places in Channahon
From USGS PAD-US: who manages each one and whether visitors are welcome.
State Conservation Area 4,341 acNational Forest 1,595 acConservation Easement 554 acState Recreation Area 235 acLocal Park 230 ac
Showing 1–10 of 15 places
| Place | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midewin National Tallgrass PrairieState Conservation Area | Private owners | 2,927 | Restricted |
| Midewin OtherNational Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 1,595 | Open |
| Des Plaines State Fish and Wildlife AreaState Conservation Area | State natural resources | 1,414 | Open |
| Illinois and Michigan Canal State TrailState Recreation Area | State natural resources | 235 | Open |
| Heritage Bluffs Public Golf ClubLocal Park | Town or city | 168 | Open |
| Arroyo TrailsUnknown | Town or city | 63 | Open |
| Central Park, Arrowhead Community Center, & Tomahawk Aquatic CenterLocal Park | Town or city | 40 | Open |
| Briscoe MoundsUnknown | State natural resources | 36 | Open |
| Deer Path ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 8 | Open |
| Ridge ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
History
Historic places to visit
Jackson Creek CemeteryCemetery
Willard Grove CemeteryCemetery
Nearby
Channahon and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
| Town | Conserved | Trails | Parks & preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Channahon | 29.8% | 13.8 mi | 7 |
| Troy | 6.5% | 11.6 mi | 18 |
| Aux Sable | 1.4% | 2.9 mi | 3 |
| Wilmington | 35.2% | 12.2 mi | 7 |
| Jackson | 25% | 9.2 mi | 2 |
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Channahon'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.