1
Prairie Wolf Forest Preserve
Managed by Lake County Forest Preserves
321 acres4.6 mi of trail
Dogs on leashMapped in OpenStreetMap
No trailhead mapped yet
Website
Outdoors · Lake Forest
Lake Forest, IL parks, trails & bike paths
About 14% of Lake Forest is conserved land, roughly 1,518 acres. There are about 35 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Prairie Wolf Forest Preserve (4.6 mi), Skokie River Nature Preserve (3.2 mi), and Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve (2.3 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Lake Forest, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Lake Forest outdoors
Conserved land
14%
1,518 of 10,986 acres
Trails
35 mi
2 mi per sq mi · 23 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
25
78 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
27.0 mi
0.0 mi lanes · 26.3 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
Skokie River Nature Preserve
Managed by Lake Forest Open Lands
84 acres3.2 mi of trail
Hart Family Trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo Skokie River Nature Preserve
3
Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve
Managed by Lake County Forest Preserves
179 acres2.3 mi of trail
Fort Sheridan Birding Trail LoopFort Sheridan Grass TrailFort Sheridan Forest Preserve Trail
Dogs on leashMapped in OpenStreetMap
4
Derwen Mawr Nature Preserve
Managed by Lake Forest Open Lands Association
61 acres2 mi of trail
Jamee Field Riverwalk Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
5
Jean and John Greene Nature Preserve
Managed by Lake Forest Open Lands Association
67 acres1.6 mi of trail
Ridge TrailWoodland TrailRavine Crest TrailGateway Trail
No dogsMapped in OpenStreetMap
6
Forest Park
Park
26 acres1.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo Forest Park Beach
7
Everett Farm Nature Preserve
Managed by Lake Forest Open Lands Association
34 acres1.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
8
West Skokie Nature Preserve
Managed by Lake Forest Open Lands Association
22 acres1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
All 25 parks & preserves
Showing 1–10 of 25 parks & preserves
Prairie Wolf Forest Preserve321 acres · 4.6 mi of trail · Lake County Forest Preserves
Skokie River Nature Preserve84 acres · 3.2 mi of trail · Lake Forest Open Lands
Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve179 acres · 2.3 mi of trail · Lake County Forest Preserves
Derwen Mawr Nature Preserve61 acres · 2 mi of trail · Lake Forest Open Lands Association
Jean and John Greene Nature Preserve67 acres · 1.6 mi of trail · Lake Forest Open Lands Association
Forest Park26 acres · 1.4 mi of trail
Everett Farm Nature Preserve34 acres · 1.1 mi of trail · Lake Forest Open Lands Association
West Skokie Nature Preserve22 acres · 1 mi of trail · Lake Forest Open Lands Association
Townline Community Park32 acres · 0.9 mi of trail · City of Lake Forest
Mellody Farm Nature Preserve28 acres · 0.9 mi of trail
Who protects the land
1,518 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 123 acres are conservation easements, which are usually private land. Public access isn't recorded for 2 of 73 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 paths26.3 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.6 mi
Courts & fields
- Tennis93
- Soccer26
- Pickleball25
- Baseball18
- Basketball12
- Football7
- Field hockey3
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Nearby
Lake Forest and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
| Town | Conserved | Trails | Parks & preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Forest | 13.8% | 34.5 mi | 25 |
| Shields | 14% | 26.2 mi | 34 |
| Moraine | 9.3% | 28.2 mi | 41 |
| Highland Park | 10.5% | 31.2 mi | 44 |
| Mettawa | 49.9% | 1.9 mi | 4 |
| Lake Bluff | 26.2% | 5.8 mi | 15 |
| Highwood | 1.2% | 0.4 mi | 2 |
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Lake Forest'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.