Forest Preserve District of Cook County

I live very near Palos Forest Preserves by choice. Many little bodies of water, places to hike, ride a bike (paved or mountain bike trails). If you live in the city, you really should come out and see what is available to you — pretty, not very crowded, peaceful. I also suggest folks check out website fpdcc (not sure if. Org, .com or .gov) — I have gone to birding events with very knowledgeable naturalists. I feel it’s one of the few things Cook County has done right! Bemus Woods near Brookfield also has a good paved bike trail.

hello
this is one of the most historical places around the area .back in the day, where wolf road ends by wolf road park, it didn’t end, it continued all the way to 107^th street, then a little further up 107^th going west there was a brick paved road still visible that led to one of the most beautiful golf courses around The Palos public Golf Club, amazing piece of land with Ravines etc. built in the early 1920, s it has been told Al Capone even shot a few rounds here .They had a huge Club house, enormous parking lot, there own irrigation system, just a beautiful spot in the woods, and many farm houses around the area again some visible concrete foundations still around, like at the end of gravitiy cavity trail there was one near 107^th .I could go on and on, then of course the Manhanten project, that’s another story, so enjoy the beautiful surroundings

This place has a great pond… very great to bring your dog if you have one… and there is plenty of parking. perfect for fishing and plenty of fish

Hiking, Biking, Walking, Fishing, BBQing, Horeseback Riding… you name it — come out to any of the CC forest preserves and you’ll find it.
Spent the last Saturday at Bullfrog Lake, Grove 1 for a friend picnic. We snagged a great spot under a bunch of trees — 4 picnic tables, great spot! Hung out all day, BBQd with good friends and had a blast.
Even the porta-​potty was clean… or as clean as one can be.

The Sag Valley trail system was my favorite place in the area to hike until I hit up the trails near Maple Lake and Bullfrog Lake!
The hiking trails here are great! There are several short trails you can hike together as well as a couple longer trails. I feel like the trails in this area are a bit more «au natural» than the Sag Valley trails too.
There’s a lot of bikers, but the vast majority had excellent trail etiquette. They call from behind and let you know if you could expect more bikers coming up after them.

Maple Lake is a great place to bring the family to hang out. Nice picnic areas, trails and boat rentals. Good Times!

Training for a race on a mountain in Vermont can be rather challenging living in downtown Chicago. I thought I was relegated to the gym and climbing the stairs to my office on the 30^th floor until I found this little gem several weeks ago.
I always thought that, to find trails and trees and nature, I had to drive at least an hour or two out of the city. Little did I know that that the Forest Preserve is 35 minutes away, and offers lakes, trails, and, dare I say it – hills??! (or hill-​ish type things. I didn’t know that these existed in Illinois). Serves me right for never leaving my corner of River North.
The trails are fairly well-​maintained, even at this time of year, and you can easily spend hours running, hiking, or biking throughout the various loops.
It’s not comparable to the huge national parks of the Northwest or the mountain at Pittsfield, VT, but it’ll do.

The World According to Noelle
Allergic Girl’s Guide to Life
«I l o v e h e r
a n d
t h a t ’ s t h e
b e g i n n i n g o f
e v e r y t h i n g. » — F. S c o t t F i t z g e r a l d
We made a stop at the Forest Preserve District. We were on one mission. That mission was to find Maple Lake. Have you ever watched the movie, «The Lake House,» if so pause and remember the lake– that is Maple Lake. The house from the movie is no longer there but we trekked in the snow to find the exact spot. Maple Lake is beautiful and when its snowing its a winter wonderland. Its peaceful and serene out here, almost if time stops. The lake is medium sized. One cannot drive around the entire lake as the roads only trace a portion of the lake. There are many trees that surround the lake. I imagine its beautiful in the summer and spring.
For those of you in search of the location where the house in the movie once stood– drive a little past the boat launch where the road dead ends into a circular parking area (all dirt roads) — that is where the house was built.
Noelle’s Notes
Somewhere near and dear to my heart.

I live literally within a stones throw of the eastern end of Palos Division of the Cook County Forest Preserve. You have at least a dozen different forest preserve groves, several hiking trails, and Maple Lake all within a very short drive of my place. It is very convenient when you feel like getting outside and enjoying the nice weather. The facilities are getting a little run down as funds are not as readily available to maintain the preserves as needed but they are not in that bad of shape where you can’t enjoy your day. The only problem is that the neighborhood is starting to be taken over by the deer that wander out of the woods. Every now and then you can hear a pack of coyotes howling in the middle of the night which is really cool