Tinley Creek Forest Preserve

Picnic tables are the part of a park that decides whether a meal happens there. A table means you can lay out a board, cut something, and eat without balancing a plate on your knees — and it is the single most requested piece of park furniture that maps rarely tell you about.

What the map cannot tell you is shade. A table in full sun at one o'clock in July is a table nobody uses, and OpenStreetMap almost never records tree cover over a specific table. Arrive early or scout the tree line.

Nor does it record whether the table is bolted near a bin, a tap or a toilet — the three things that turn a table into a usable picnic spot. Larger regional parks are the safe bet for all three.