1
Chicago Botanic Gardens
Managed by Chicago Horticultural Society
101 acres4.9 mi of trail
Merlin Waterside Terrace
Dog rules not recorded
Outdoors · Northfield
Northfield, IL parks, trails & bike paths
About 8.8% of Northfield is conserved land, roughly 1,943 acres. There are about 55 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Chicago Botanic Gardens (4.9 mi), Somme Woods (4 mi), and Gallery Park (2.7 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Northfield, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Northfield outdoors
Conserved land
8.8%
1,943 of 22,021 acres
Trails
55 mi
1.6 mi per sq mi · 18 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
61
22 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
40.5 mi
2.4 mi lanes · 36.8 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
Somme Woods
Managed by Forest Preserve District of Cook County
262 acres4 mi of trail
North Branch (green) Trail, (north section)
Dogs on leashMapped in OpenStreetMap
3
Gallery Park
Managed by Glenview Park District
141 acres2.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
4
Kennicott Grove
Managed by Glenview Park District
200 acres2.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
5
Lake Avenue Woods Preserves
Managed by Forest Preserve District of Cook County
277 acres2 mi of trail
Little Fort TrailGrove Portage TrailGreen Bay TrailRiver Trail Nature Center Brown UnpavedPlant identification trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the trailhead
6
Sunset Ridge Woods
Managed by Forest Preserve District of Cook County
142 acres1.6 mi of trail
North Branch Blue Unpaved Trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the trailhead
7
Wood Oaks Green Park
Managed by Northbrook Park District
58 acres1.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
8
Blue Star Memorial Woods Preserve
Managed by Forest Preserve District of Cook County
145 acres1.3 mi of trail
North Branch Yellow Unpaved Trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the trailhead
All 61 parks & preserves
Showing 1–10 of 61 parks & preserves
Chicago Botanic Gardens101 acres · 4.9 mi of trail · Chicago Horticultural Society
Somme Woods262 acres · 4 mi of trail · Forest Preserve District of Cook County
Gallery Park141 acres · 2.7 mi of trail · Glenview Park District
Kennicott Grove200 acres · 2.5 mi of trail · Glenview Park District
Lake Avenue Woods Preserves277 acres · 2 mi of trail · Forest Preserve District of Cook County
Sunset Ridge Woods142 acres · 1.6 mi of trail · Forest Preserve District of Cook County
Wood Oaks Green Park58 acres · 1.4 mi of trail · Northbrook Park District
Blue Star Memorial Woods Preserve145 acres · 1.3 mi of trail · Forest Preserve District of Cook County
Harms Woods Nature Preserve40 acres · 1.3 mi of trail · Forest Preserve District of Cook County
Watersmeet Woods147 acres · 1.2 mi of trail · Forest Preserve District of Cook County
Who protects the land
1,943 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 249 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 lanes2.4 mi
- Off-road bike paths36.8 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes1.4 mi
- North Branch Yellow Unpaved Trail (bike route)2.3 mi
- Northbrook Bicycle Network (bike route)1.6 mi
Courts & fields
- Tennis138
- Baseball49
- Soccer46
- Basketball39
- Pickleball34
- Softball14
- Football10
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Nearby
Northfield and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
| Town | Conserved | Trails | Parks & preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northfield | 8.8% | 55.1 mi | 61 |
| New Trier | 7.8% | 33.7 mi | 66 |
| Wheeling | 5.1% | 19.2 mi | 92 |
| Niles | 7.1% | 30.3 mi | 78 |
| Northbrook | 7.5% | 13.3 mi | 24 |
| Des Plaines | 4.4% | 7.4 mi | 49 |
| Moraine | 9.3% | 28.2 mi | 41 |
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Northfield'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.