1
Skokie River Nature Preserve
Managed by Lake Forest Open Lands
83 acres3.2 mi of trail
Hart Family Trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo Skokie River Nature Preserve
Outdoors · Shields
Shields, IL parks, trails & bike paths
About 14% of Shields is conserved land, roughly 1,582 acres. There are about 26 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Skokie River Nature Preserve (3.2 mi), Derwen Mawr Nature Preserve (2 mi), and Oriole Grove Forest Preserve (1.3 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Shields, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Shields outdoors
Conserved land
14%
1,582 of 11,337 acres
Trails
26 mi
1.5 mi per sq mi · 16 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
34
42 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
18.5 mi
0.0 mi lanes · 17.7 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
Derwen Mawr Nature Preserve
Managed by Lake Forest Open Lands Association
63 acres2 mi of trail
Jamee Field Riverwalk Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
3
Oriole Grove Forest Preserve
Managed by Lake County Forest Preserves
85 acres1.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
4
Forest Park
Park
24 acres1.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo Forest Park Beach
5
Middlefork Savanna Forest Preserve
Managed by Lake County Forest Preserves
199 acres0.9 mi of trail
George Beach Trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
6
Skokie River Prairie Land and Water Reserve
Managed by Lake Bluff Open Lands Association
38 acres0.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
7
Mellody Farm Nature Preserve
Park
28 acres0.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
8
Guardian Park
Park
17 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 34 parks & preserves
Showing 1–10 of 34 parks & preserves
Skokie River Nature Preserve83 acres · 3.2 mi of trail · Lake Forest Open Lands
Derwen Mawr Nature Preserve63 acres · 2 mi of trail · Lake Forest Open Lands Association
Oriole Grove Forest Preserve85 acres · 1.3 mi of trail · Lake County Forest Preserves
Forest Park24 acres · 1.3 mi of trail
Middlefork Savanna Forest Preserve199 acres · 0.9 mi of trail · Lake County Forest Preserves
Skokie River Prairie Land and Water Reserve38 acres · 0.9 mi of trail · Lake Bluff Open Lands Association
Mellody Farm Nature Preserve28 acres · 0.9 mi of trail
Guardian Park17 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
Ravine Park11 acres · 0.3 mi of trail · Lake Bluff Open Lands Association
Prairie Preserve on Belle Foret Drive6 acres · 0.3 mi of trail · Prairie Preserve on Belle Foret Drive
Who protects the land
1,582 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 219 acres are conservation easements, which are usually private land. Public access isn't recorded for 2 of 93 parcels. 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 paths17.7 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.8 mi
Courts & fields
- Tennis57
- Pickleball33
- Baseball17
- Basketball9
- Soccer9
- Football5
- Beach volleyball2
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Nearby
Shields and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
| Town | Conserved | Trails | Parks & preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shields | 14% | 26.2 mi | 34 |
| Lake Forest | 13.8% | 34.5 mi | 25 |
| Lake Bluff | 26.2% | 5.8 mi | 15 |
| North Chicago | 8.7% | 7.4 mi | 8 |
| Libertyville | 24.1% | 16.5 mi | 37 |
| Waukegan | 20.5% | 10.9 mi | 37 |
| Green Oaks | 7.8% | 1.8 mi | 3 |
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Shields'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.