Forest Park

I love this park! I do a lot of backpacking and this park makes for the perfect training grounds. There are also tons of mountain biking trails and horse trails too. In fact there are over 30 miles of trails and 54 benches throughout the park. But there is no camping permitted.

Forest park used to be the Jacksonville reservoir and spillway. Used to have a railroad line, more than a few mines, very historic. LOTS of trails head off in every direction…we ended up meandering onto a different trail than the one we wanted! But it was fun , always ended up finding cool “stuff”. Found a few geocaches !
This park is fairly good sized . Can’t be done in one day, maybe not two !
Hikers Heaven. And dog-friendly!
No fee

Whether you're looking for a few easy miles to stretch your legs or get a good workout and do 10+ miles of trail running this is a fantastic trail network. Between the excellent signage and abundant historical artifacts, theres really something for everyone and every outdoor skill level!

Nice park with numerous trails located just outside of Jacksonville. They can be a little tricky to navigate but most of them filter back into each other. Well maintained, dog friendly!

Beautiful place with lots of different trails and parking areas. Great views, ponds, historic scenery, animal friendly and lots of benches throughout to sit and enjoy.

Great place to walk, run, hike and bike with plenty of trail choices from easy to hard.

Great area with a wide variety of hiking trails from creeks to peaks. Most of the hikes are moderately steep and there are plenty of parking areas to provide trailhead access. Follow a trail into one of the small canyon areas to keep cool in the summer.

Great little gem really close to Jacksonville. No poison oak, many trails you can explore. Its up to you if you want to spend there an hour or three. Be careful if you have children though, some trails are very narrow cut in to steep hill. Lots of shade, I did not meet anyone even though parking lot was almost full