1
Burnidge Forest Preserve
Managed by Forest Preserve District of Kane County
323 acres8.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Website
Outdoors · Elgin
Elgin, IL parks, trails & bike paths
About 8.2% of Elgin is conserved land, roughly 1,703 acres. There are about 25 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Burnidge Forest Preserve (8.2 mi), Otter Creek Forest Preserve (1.3 mi), and Tyler Creek Forest Preserve (1.2 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Elgin, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Elgin outdoors
Conserved land
8.2%
1,703 of 20,760 acres
Trails
25 mi
0.8 mi per sq mi · 19 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
65
16 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
40.7 mi
3.2 mi lanes · 34.4 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
Otter Creek Forest Preserve
Managed by Forest Preserve District of Kane County
122 acres1.3 mi of trail
Main LoopCenter Conn. TrailWest Loop
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo Otter Creek Forest Preserve
3
Tyler Creek Forest Preserve
Managed by Forest Preserve District of Kane County
50 acres1.2 mi of trail
Westwood Trail (0.35 mi)Southwest Woodland Trail (0.14 mi)North Hill Trail (0.14 mi)
Dog rules not recorded
4
Kenyon Farm Forest Preserve
Managed by Forest Preserve District of Kane County
71 acres0.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
5
Hawthorne Hills Nature Center
Nature preserve
41 acres0.9 mi of trail
Eagle Scout LoopBlue Heron LoopVolunteer Appreciation Trail
Dog rules not recorded
6
Trout Park
Managed by Elgin Parks & Recreation
44 acres0.7 mi of trail
No dogsMapped in OpenStreetMap
7
Elgin Sports Complex
Park
148 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
8
Burnidge Woods Park
Park
22 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
All 60 parks & preserves
- Jim Hansen Park16 ac · 0.4 mi trail · Directions
- Marie Grolich Park10 ac · 0.4 mi trail · Directions
- Shamrock Park5 ac · 0.4 mi trail
- Eagle/Burnridge Park34 ac · 0.3 mi trail · Directions
- Channing Park12 ac · 0.3 mi trail · Directions
- Robert Sperry Park9 ac · 0.3 mi trail · Directions
- Clifford/Owasco Park7 ac · 0.3 mi trail
- Panton Mill Park5 ac · 0.3 mi trail · Directions
- Walton Island Park2 ac · 0.3 mi trail · Directions
- County Park16 ac · 0.2 mi trail · Directions
- Trinity Terrace Park3 ac · 0.2 mi trail
- Wing Park130 ac · 0.1 mi trail · Directions
- Eagle Heights Park12 ac · 0.1 mi trail
- Lions Park9 ac · 0.1 mi trail · Directions
- Fox Meadow Park6 ac · 0.1 mi trail · Directions
- Copper Springs Park4 ac · 0.1 mi trail
- College Green Park3 ac · 0.1 mi trail
- Veterans Memorial Park2 ac · 0.1 mi trail · Directions
- SEBA Park2 ac · 0.1 mi trail · Directions
- Gifford Park2 ac · 0.1 mi trail · Directions
- Kiwanis Park1 ac · 0.1 mi trail · Directions
- Grant School Park1 ac · 0.1 mi trail
- College Park83 ac · Directions
- James "Pate" Philip State Park61 ac · Directions
- Spartan Meadows43 ac · Directions
- Elgin Shores Forest Preserve38 ac · Directions
- Poplar Creek Forest Preserve33 ac
- Bartlett/Dundee Park31 ac · Directions
- Meier Park14 ac · Directions
- Slade Avenue Park9 ac · Directions
- Blackhawk Park8 ac
- Elgin Academy Athletic Fields7 ac · Directions
- Drake Field Park6 ac
- Pickeral Point Park6 ac · Directions
- Festival Park6 ac · Directions
- Longcommon Park6 ac
- Mulberry Grove Park6 ac
- Settlers Park6 ac
- Heritage Park6 ac
- Heron Woods State Habitat Area5 ac · Directions
- Lords Park5 ac · Directions
- Central Park4 ac · Directions
- Foundry Park4 ac · Directions
- Randall Ridge Park4 ac
- Mable Avenue Park4 ac · Directions
- Century Oaks Park4 ac
- Thornwood Grove Park4 ac
- Waterford Entry Park3 ac
- Powder River Park3 ac
- Saint Francis Park2 ac · Directions
- Robin Glen Park1 ac
- Cornerstone Park1 ac
Who protects the land
1,703 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 37 acres are conservation easements, which are usually private land. The places listed above are parks and preserves people visit.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes3.2 mi
- Off-road bike paths34.4 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes3.0 mi
Courts & fields
- Baseball49
- Tennis47
- Soccer15
- Basketball13
- Pickleball8
- Beach volleyball5
- Football3
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Next door
Elgin and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
| Town | Conserved | Trails | Parks & preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elgin | 8.2% | 24.6 mi | 65 |
| St. Charles | 11.6% | 40.4 mi | 61 |
| Plato | 9.8% | 5.3 mi | 11 |
| Elgin | 7.1% | 19.7 mi | 76 |
| Dundee | 21% | 55.1 mi | 51 |
| South Elgin | 8.3% | 2.7 mi | 21 |
| Hanover | 5.8% | 29.8 mi | 82 |
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Elgin'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.