1
Willow Park
Managed by Northfield Park District
27 acres1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Outdoors · Northfield
Northfield, IL parks, trails & bike paths
About 12% of Northfield is conserved land, roughly 236 acres. There are about 4.5 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Willow Park (1 mi), Forest Preserve District of Cook County (0.8 mi), and Hibbard Woods Preserve (0.6 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Northfield, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Northfield outdoors
Conserved land
12%
236 of 2,053 acres
Trails
4.5 mi
1.4 mi per sq mi · 1 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
10
43 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
2.0 mi
0.0 mi lanes · 1.5 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
Forest Preserve District of Cook County
Managed by Forest Preserve District of Cook County
47 acres0.8 mi of trail
North Branch Yellow Unpaved Trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
3
Hibbard Woods Preserve
Managed by Forest Preserve District of Cook County
72 acres0.6 mi of trail
North Branch Yellow Unpaved Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
4
Skokie Lagoons South
Managed by Forest Preserve District of Cook County
56 acres0.5 mi of trail
North Branch Yellow Unpaved Trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the trailhead
All 10 parks & preserves
Willow Park27 acres · 1 mi of trail · Northfield Park District
Forest Preserve District of Cook County47 acres · 0.8 mi of trail · Forest Preserve District of Cook County
Hibbard Woods Preserve72 acres · 0.6 mi of trail · Forest Preserve District of Cook County
Skokie Lagoons South56 acres · 0.5 mi of trail · Forest Preserve District of Cook County
Clarkson Park3 acres · 0.2 mi of trail · Northfield Park District
Fox Meadow Park12 acres · Northfield Park District
Watersmeet Woods3 acres · Forest Preserve District of Cook County
Northfield Park3 acres · Winnetka Park District
Northfield Park District1 acres · Northfield Park District
Happ Road Park1 acres · Winnetka Park District
Things to do
Beaches, playgrounds, falls & more
Pick a kind of place for the list, directions, or pins on the map above.
Playgrounds in Northfield
Splash PadIn Clarkson Park
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground in Willow Park
Unnamed playground in Clarkson Park
Trails
Named trails
Open to bikes 2.7 miHorses 1.5 miUnpaved 2.8 mi
- North Branch Yellow Unpaved Trail1.5 mi
- East Northbrook Trail1.3 mi
Water
Lakes & rivers
Tap a name for directions.
Who protects the land
236 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes0.0 mi
- Off-road bike paths1.5 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.5 mi
- North Branch Yellow Unpaved Trail (bike route)1.5 mi
- Northbrook Bicycle Network (bike route)1.3 mi
Courts & fields
- Tennis32
- Pickleball6
- Soccer5
- Basketball3
- Football2
- Baseball2
- Softball2
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Public lands
The biggest protected places in Northfield
From USGS PAD-US: who manages each one and whether visitors are welcome.
Private Park 196 acLocal Park 40 ac
| Place | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golf CoursePrivate Park | Private owners | 196 | Open |
| Willow ParkLocal Park | Regional agency | 22 | Open |
| Fox Meadow ParkLocal Park | Regional agency | 12 | Open |
| Clarkson ParkLocal Park | Regional agency | 3 | Open |
| Northfield ParkLocal Park | Regional agency | 2 | Open |
| Happ Road ParkLocal Park | Regional agency | 1 | Open |
History
Historic places to visit
Russell-CeperlyCemetery
Nearby
Northfield and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
| Town | Conserved | Trails | Parks & preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northfield | 11.5% | 4.5 mi | 10 |
| Northbrook | 7.5% | 13.3 mi | 24 |
| Glenview | 9.9% | 26.9 mi | 39 |
| Winnetka | 9.5% | 5.6 mi | 19 |
| Glencoe | 3.2% | 5.8 mi | 26 |
| Wilmette | 11.1% | 9.2 mi | 19 |
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.