Trails / Hiking

Do you enjoy bird watching or hiking?  Forest Park Nature Center is for you!  Forest Park Nature Center offers seven miles of trails for hiking and nature enjoyment and is home to a gift shop that carries bird feeding and hiking necessities.  Interested in learning more about nature and all that it entails?  Forest Park Nature Center has classes for adults and children alike, covering topics from bats to bugs and everything in between.  Guided hiking tours are also available.

Forest Park Nature Center Layout

The Peoria Park District has your one-stop shop in West Peoria for recreation, fitness, and fun!

Located in West Peoria, Franciscan Recreation Center features a full size gym that can be rented for limited special events, leagues, and practices/games. This location offers great select programming, including pickleball and volleyball open gyms and more! Starting in December or early 2023, FRC will be the new home for the Peoria Regional Learning Center.

Franciscan Recreation Complex has a 0.5 mile loop trail that is paved and fairly level.

Franciscan Recreation Complex Layout

For program and event inquiries, please contact [email protected] or (309) 681-2677

Make Glen Oak Park a daylong destination for you and your family! Packed with fun, the Park is home to Peoria Zoo, the Peoria PlayHouse Children’s Museum, Luthy Botanical Garden, and Rotary Adventure Grove, Glen Oak Amphitheatre and Glen Park Lagoon. And that’s just the beginning of the fun you can have…The roads through Glen Oak Park also provide paved, but not so level hiking opportunities.

If you have questions about rentals at this park, please call 309-682-1200.

Glen Oak Park Layout

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Grand View Drive is a 2.52 mile meandering pleasure driveway constructed in 1903. The “world’s most beautiful drive,” as President Theodore Roosevelt referred to it in a visit to Peoria in 1910, offers visitors numerous panoramic scenic views of the Illinois River Valley and the chance to view many historic and remarkable homes lining it. The linear park is especially beautiful in autumn, with the ever-changing colors of fall leaves.  Grand View Drive has 1.75 miles of paved sidewalk for hiking.

Grand View Drive Layout

Located next to Carver Recreation Center in downtown Peoria, Gwynn Park is filled with fun for all seasons.

Located in this park is Gwynn Family Aquatic Center. Learn more about the facility here. 

John H. Gwynn Jr. Park Layout

If you are looking for a great space for you or your family to spend some time on the South Side of Peoria, head over to the Logan Recreation Center!  The inside of the Rec Center is filled with great space including a lounge with computer access available and a multi-purpose recreation room.  Logan Recreation Center also has after-school programs that offer homework help and many fun sporting and recreational activities! Logan Recreation Center is located in Logan Park and has a slew of outdoor activity areas including three outdoor lighted basketball courts, a soccer field, a kickball area, picnic areas, a water playground/splash pad, and more!

Logan Park Layout

This park is small but mighty… check out its firehouse-inspired playground!

Martin Luther King Jr. Park Layout

The Peoria RiverFront really does have something for everyone, especially during the summer season!  The Peoria Park District is excited that the RiverFront has become a prime location for outdoor concerts, festivals, and gatherings.  Come explore one of the many cultural festivals held on the Riverfront, like India Fest, Soul Fest, Irish Fest, Oktoberfest, Fine Art Fair and Fiesta in el Rio!  Whatever fits your fancy, the RiverFront is sure to have something fun for you and your family or friends this summer.

RiverFront Park Layout

Narrow, informal paths lace the site, along with a substantial segment of the better-developed Illinois River Bluff Trail. For the ecologically-oriented visitor, the most intriguing component of Robinson Park is its 151-acre nature preserve, which consists of glacial drift hill prairies, and oak woodlands along the ridges and valleys.  If you have questions about rentals at this park, please call 309-682-1200.

Robinson Park Layout

Located off of Kickapoo Creek Rd., you won’t find a more rugged outdoor experience in Peoria than hiking Rocky Glen.  Know locally as a “Miniature Starved Rock,” Rocky Glen boasts a waterfall that freezes in the winter and offers spectacular views that are worth the hike.  Dirt trails wind through thick forests, taking you to stops that include expansive views of Peoria, and moderate rock climbing (particularly at Rocky Glen Park).  Any experience level could tackle these trails, but there are significant elevation changes.

Rocky Glen Trail Map