1
Giant City State Park
Managed by Illinois Department of Natural Resources
2,201 acres17 mi of trail
Horse TrailRed Cedar TrailRiver to River TrailIndian Creek TrailArrow-Wood Nature Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Outdoors · Makanda
Makanda, IL parks, trails & bike paths
About 14% of Makanda is conserved land, roughly 3,452 acres. There are about 38 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Giant City State Park (17 mi) and Fern Rocks Nature Preserve (1.7 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Makanda, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Makanda outdoors
Conserved land
14%
3,452 of 24,125 acres
Trails
38 mi
1 mi per sq mi · 23 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
3
856 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
1.5 mi
1.5 mi lanes · 0.0 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
Fern Rocks Nature Preserve
Nature preserve
177 acres1.7 mi of trail
Trillium TrailRed Cedar Trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo Trillium trail parking and trailhead
3
Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge
Managed by United States Fish and Wildlife Service
166 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Things to do
Beaches, playgrounds, falls & more
Pick a kind of place for the list, directions, or pins on the map above.
Campgrounds in Makanda
Giant City Campground (tent)In Giant City State Park
OfficeIn Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge
Wesley Area Little Grassy United Methodist CampIn Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge
Trails
Named trails
Open to bikes 2.5 miHorses 9.1 miUnpaved 21.5 mi
Showing 1–10 of 23 trails
- Red Cedar Trail5.7 mi
- Horse Trail5.4 mi
- River to River Trail5.1 mi
- Catalyst Loop (Touch of Nature)3.3 mi
- Trillium Trail1.2 mi
- Volunteer Track1.0 mi
- Volunteer Track B1.0 mi
- Old River to River Trail0.7 mi
- Beaver Fever0.7 mi
- String Bean0.7 mi
Water
Lakes & rivers
Tap a name for directions.
Who protects the land
3,452 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 114 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 lanes1.5 mi
- Off-road bike paths0.0 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.0 mi
Courts & fields
- Baseball3
- Basketball2
- Softball1
- Tennis1
- Soccer1
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Public lands
The biggest protected places in Makanda
From USGS PAD-US: who manages each one and whether visitors are welcome.
State Conservation Area 2,155 acNational Forest 953 acNational Wildlife Refuge 645 acConservation Easement 317 ac
| Place | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Giant City State ParkState Conservation Area | State natural resources | 2,126 | Open |
| Shawnee National ForestNational Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 953 | Open |
| Crab Orchard National Wildlife RefugeNational Wildlife Refuge | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 645 | Restricted |
| Fernlands Nature PreserveState Conservation Area | Land trusts & nonprofits | 29 | Open |
History
Historic places to visit
Showing 1–10 of 13 places
Inspiration PointIn Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge · Monument
Boskydell CemeteryCemetery
Evergreen CemeteryCemetery
Hilton CemeteryCemetery
Lirley CemeteryCemetery
Makanda CemeteryCemetery
Sheppard CemeteryCemetery
South County Line CemeteryCemetery
Stearns CemeteryCemetery
Union Hills CemeteryCemetery
Nearby
Makanda and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
| Town | Conserved | Trails | Parks & preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Makanda | 14.3% | 37.9 mi | 3 |
| Carbondale | 7.6% | 14.2 mi | 29 |
| Pomona | 51.6% | 21.8 mi | 1 |
| Makanda | 9.3% | 3.0 mi | 2 |
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Makanda'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.