1
Glacial Park Conservation Area
Nature preserve
598 acres3.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Outdoors · McHenry
McHenry, IL parks, trails & bike paths
About 4.7% of McHenry is conserved land, roughly 1,450 acres. There are about 21 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Glacial Park Conservation Area (3.5 mi), Harrison Benwell Conservation Area (1.3 mi), and Hiller Park (0.5 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in McHenry, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
McHenry outdoors
Conserved land
4.7%
1,450 of 30,562 acres
Trails
21 mi
0.4 mi per sq mi · 5 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
31
31 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
12.0 mi
0.0 mi lanes · 12.0 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
Harrison Benwell Conservation Area
Managed by McHenry County Conservation District
79 acres1.3 mi of trail
South Loop (.75 mi)Short Loop (.5 mi)
Dog rules not recorded
3
Hiller Park
Park
18 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
4
Fox Ridge Park
Park
91 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
All 31 parks & preserves
Showing 1–10 of 31 parks & preserves
Glacial Park Conservation Area598 acres · 3.5 mi of trail
Harrison Benwell Conservation Area79 acres · 1.3 mi of trail · McHenry County Conservation District
Hiller Park18 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
Fox Ridge Park91 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
McHenry Township Park39 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Weingart Rd Sedge Meadow Nature Preserve127 acres
Petersen Park79 acres
Cold Springs Park50 acres
Whispering Oaks Park30 acres
Shamrock Farm Park24 acres
Who protects the land
1,450 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 578 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 lanes0.0 mi
- Off-road bike paths12.0 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.0 mi
Courts & fields
- Baseball35
- Tennis21
- Basketball9
- Soccer6
- Football4
- Beach volleyball4
- Volleyball3
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Nearby
McHenry and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
| Town | Conserved | Trails | Parks & preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| McHenry | 4.7% | 20.6 mi | 31 |
| Greenwood | 9.4% | 9.3 mi | 12 |
| Nunda | 15.6% | 38.3 mi | 32 |
| Grant | 12% | 9.4 mi | 9 |
| Wauconda | 4.3% | 1.9 mi | 14 |
| Bull Valley | 8.6% | 2.9 mi | 4 |
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about McHenry'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 22.4-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.