2.9 miles of trails in Elsah
About 32% of Elsah is conserved land, roughly 219 acres. There are about 2.9 miles of mapped trails.
What kind of outdoors town is Elsah?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
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2 places to go in Elsah
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
1 named trail
219 conserved acres
Who manages Elsah’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Place | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Principia Hill Prairies - East Natural Heritage Landmark Private Historic or Cultural | Private owners | 138 | Open |
| Principia Hill Prairies East Private Conservation | Private owners | 58 | Restricted |
| Principia Hill Prairies - West Natural Heritage Landmark Private Historic or Cultural | Private owners | 17 | Open |
| Vadalabene Bike Trail State Recreation Area | Other state land | 7 | Open |
| Principia Hill Prairies West Private Conservation | Private owners | 6 | Restricted |
4.4 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
2 historic sites to visit
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Elsah neighbors.
Trails, parks, preserves, courts and bike lanes © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), map data as of 2026-09-28. Conserved land: USGS Gap Analysis Project, 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.