1
Maxwell Park
Park
124 acres3.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
Outdoors · Normal
Normal, IL parks, trails & bike paths
About 2.9% of Normal is conserved land, roughly 597 acres. There are about 11 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Maxwell Park (3.4 mi) and Ilse and Charles Jobson Natural Play Park (0.6 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Normal, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Normal outdoors
Conserved land
2.9%
597 of 20,363 acres
Trails
11 mi
0.3 mi per sq mi · 4 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
22
11 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
33.8 mi
2.4 mi lanes · 24.1 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
Ilse and Charles Jobson Natural Play Park
Park
11 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
3
Fairview Park
Park
46 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
4
Hidden Creek Nature Sanctuary
Nature preserve
5 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
5
Fransen Nature Area
Managed by Town of Normal Parks and Recreation Department
4 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
All 22 parks & preserves
Showing 1–10 of 22 parks & preserves
Maxwell Park124 acres · 3.4 mi of trail
Ilse and Charles Jobson Natural Play Park11 acres · 0.6 mi of trail
Fairview Park46 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Hidden Creek Nature Sanctuary5 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Fransen Nature Area4 acres · 0.3 mi of trail · Town of Normal Parks and Recreation Department
Anderson Park17 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Underwood Park16 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Rosa Parks Commons13 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Campus Recreation Field4 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Special Olympics Illinois Tribute Park1 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Things to do
Beaches, playgrounds, falls & more
Pick a kind of place for the list, directions, or pins on the map above.
Dog parks in Normal
Maxwell Dog ParkIn Maxwell Park
Shepard Park - Dog ParkIn Shepard Park
Unnamed dog park
Who protects the land
597 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes2.4 mi
- Off-road bike paths24.1 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes7.3 mi
Courts & fields
- Tennis38
- Basketball28
- Baseball28
- Tracks24
- Soccer17
- Softball10
- Football9
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Public lands
The biggest protected places in Normal
From USGS PAD-US: who manages each one and whether visitors are welcome.
Private Park 375 acLocal Park 217 acUnknown 5 ac
Showing 1–10 of 15 places
| Place | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ironwood Golf CoursePrivate Park | Private owners | 238 | Open |
| Illinois State University Golf CoursePrivate Park | Other state land | 136 | Open |
| Maxwell ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 76 | Open |
| Fairview ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 38 | Open |
| One Normal PlazaLocal Park | Town or city | 18 | Open |
| Underwood ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 17 | Open |
| Shepard ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 14 | Open |
| Rosa Parks Commons ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 14 | Open |
| Anderson Aquatic Center & ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 13 | Open |
| Ironwood ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 11 | Open |
History
Historic places to visit
Old Main CornerstoneMonument
Holy Cross CemeteryCemetery
Nearby
Normal and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
| Town | Conserved | Trails | Parks & preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Normal | 2.9% | 10.7 mi | 22 |
| Bloomington | 7.5% | 28.1 mi | 44 |
| Bloomington City | 7.5% | 28.1 mi | 44 |
| Normal | 5% | 9.7 mi | 23 |
| Dry Grove | 0.1% | 3.5 mi | 2 |
| Towanda | 0.1% | 0.7 mi | 3 |
| Hudson | 8.5% | 21.0 mi | 8 |
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Normal'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.