1
Bluff Spring Fen
Managed by Forest Preserve District of Cook County
180 acres2.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Outdoors · Elgin
Elgin, IL parks, trails & bike paths
About 7.1% of Elgin is conserved land, roughly 1,744 acres. There are about 20 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Bluff Spring Fen (2.4 mi), Lords Park (1.2 mi), and Tyler Creek Forest Preserve (1.1 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Elgin, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Elgin outdoors
Conserved land
7.1%
1,744 of 24,685 acres
Trails
20 mi
0.5 mi per sq mi · 10 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
76
15 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
42.3 mi
5.9 mi lanes · 33.4 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
Lords Park
Managed by Elgin Parks & Recreation
79 acres1.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
3
Tyler Creek Forest Preserve
Managed by Forest Preserve District of Kane County
47 acres1.1 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
Hawthorne Hills Nature Center
Nature preserve
41 acres0.9 mi of trail
Eagle Scout LoopBlue Heron LoopVolunteer Appreciation Trail
Dog rules not recorded
5
Elgin Sports Complex
Park
149 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
6
Trout Park
Managed by Elgin Parks & Recreation
42 acres0.6 mi of trail
No dogsMapped in OpenStreetMap
7
Burnidge Woods Park
Park
21 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
8
Shamrock Park
Park
6 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 60 parks & preserves
- Jack E. Cook Park and Forest Preserve207 ac · 0.3 mi trail · Directions
- Bowes Creek Greenway38 ac · 0.3 mi trail
- Eagle/Burnridge Park34 ac · 0.3 mi trail · Directions
- Channing Park11 ac · 0.3 mi trail · Directions
- Prairie Park9 ac · 0.3 mi trail · Directions
- Clifford/Owasco Park6 ac · 0.3 mi trail
- Marie Grolich Park9 ac · 0.2 mi trail · Directions
- Trinity Terrace Park3 ac · 0.2 mi trail
- Corron Farm2 ac · 0.2 mi trail
- Walton Island Park2 ac · 0.2 mi trail · Directions
- Wing Park127 ac · 0.1 mi trail · Directions
- Eagle Heights Park13 ac · 0.1 mi trail
- Princeton West Park5 ac · 0.1 mi trail · Directions
- Kirk and Kramer Park5 ac · 0.1 mi trail
- Copper Springs Park4 ac · 0.1 mi trail
- Shadow Hill Park4 ac · 0.1 mi trail
- College Green Park3 ac · 0.1 mi trail
- Sleepy Hollow Ravine Forest Preserve2 ac · 0.1 mi trail
- Tournament Drive Park2 ac · 0.1 mi trail
- Veterans Memorial Park2 ac · 0.1 mi trail · Directions
- Kiwanis Park2 ac · 0.1 mi trail · Directions
- Gifford Park2 ac · 0.1 mi trail · Directions
- Grant School Park1 ac · 0.1 mi trail
- Meissner Prairie-Corron Forest Preserve400 ac · Directions
- College Park75 ac · Directions
- Cobblers Crossing Lake55 ac · Directions
- Spartan Meadows43 ac · Directions
- Elgin Shores Forest Preserve38 ac · Directions
- Fox River Forested Fen Forest Preserve28 ac · Directions
- Campus Park18 ac · Directions
- Elgin National Little League14 ac · Directions
- Meier Park14 ac · Directions
- Voyagers Landing Forest Preserve13 ac · Directions
- Slade Avenue Park10 ac · Directions
- Drake Field Park9 ac
- Longcommon Park7 ac
- Poplar Creek Forest Preserve6 ac
- Elgin Academy Athletic Fields6 ac · Directions
- Wright Avenue Park6 ac
- Festival Park6 ac · Directions
- Mulberry Grove Park6 ac
- Heritage Park6 ac
- Settlers Park5 ac
- Summerhill Park5 ac · Directions
- Century Oaks Park5 ac
- Central Park4 ac · Directions
- Foundry Park4 ac · Directions
- Randall Ridge Park4 ac
- Mable Avenue Park4 ac · Directions
- Willow Creek Park3 ac
- Waterford Entry Park3 ac
- Powder River Park3 ac
Who protects the land
1,744 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 53 acres are conservation easements, which are usually private land. Public access isn't recorded for 1 of 95 parcels. The places listed above are parks and preserves people visit.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes5.9 mi
- Off-road bike paths33.4 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes3.0 mi
Courts & fields
- Tennis52
- Baseball44
- Basketball15
- Soccer15
- Pickleball9
- 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 | 7.1% | 19.7 mi | 76 |
| Campton Hills | 15.5% | 18.6 mi | 10 |
| West Dundee | 14.2% | 10.3 mi | 10 |
| Bartlett | 17.2% | 7.0 mi | 32 |
| Pingree Grove | 12.5% | 2.3 mi | 1 |
| South Elgin | 8.3% | 2.7 mi | 21 |
| Elgin | 8.2% | 24.6 mi | 65 |
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 33.5-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.