A kid's dream playground and totally worth the small entrance fee. This nature-themed play space…read moreis huge, creative, and packed with fun. Because it's so popular, they use timed entries to give more families a chance to enjoy it without crowding. It's located inside the Spring Valley Nature Center, so after playtime, you can wander the trails or explore more of the natural area. A great combo of fun + learning + nature. Perfect for an afternoon with littles

I get it... people do not want to pay to go to a public park, but then.... Maybe don't go? It's a…read morepark district park, so perhaps they need the money to help maintain the park or to help with crowd control. And I'm sure there are plenty of other parks in the area that do not charge. The place was pretty packed on a Sunday morning at 10:20am, but not in an annoying way. I thought the equipment was uniquely different from your standard playground. Lots of creative equipment for sensory play. I wasn't SUPER thrilled to see the gritty sand and water (am I just super OCD or are there actually parents out there that see that at a playground they drove to that says "oh yay! Water and messy sand!"). Oh and the death trap tight rope was also a "yikes" reaction, but my kids stayed away from it, so no biggie. It was fun. I wasn't bothered by the one hour time limit (although, I don't even know if they actually kick people out because we left a little after 11am and I didn't see them trying to clear the area). But.... It was hot and I was ready to leave the park and do not mind having the backing of being able to tell my kids that the park is closing to help get them to leave.

Spring Valley has a Nature Center and also features the Heritage Farm. It's really a neat place for…read morea walk as you walk through a wooded area for about 5-7 minutes and then you see the farm houses with animal barns along with a few trails to follow. Spring Valley is a refuge of about 135 acres comprised of fields, forests, marshes, brooks and streams. Some trails are wood beamed while others are rocks and grass. It's a really enjoyable place to spend a few hours by yourself, with friends and family. Parking and entrances to the park are available on both sides 1) off Schaumburg Road 2) off Plum Grove Road.

I have been going here since the 80's and it is even better than ever now. I love taking my…read moredaughter for a hike to the farm after enjoying the nature center building. It is awesome how so many aspects of Spring Valley have remained the same while wonderful upgrades and additions have been made, too! Definitely a place that we will continue to visit throughout the year!

Beautiful park I ran a half marathon here and it was an…read moreintense trail but an awesome trail!

Busse Woods is amazing in so many ways. It's my summer's day getaway in my own backyard. My only…read morecomplaint is that they need to do a better job with the number and quality of the rest room facilities. All the preserves in the greater Chicago area are a treasure. Consider joining a volunteer restoration group in your area. The county websites will explain. It is fun, educational and you'll meet wonderfully friendly and knowledgeable folk. No experience needed. It's usually once a week for a few hours on the weekend. Come when your time and mood allows.

We stopped here whilst waiting for our pizza order to be done. It was just alright; I was rather…read moredisappointed. There are two sections to the park, with the big rocket being the centerpiece. It's huge, multiple levels. There are at least three slides coming out from it. Lots of places for kids to climb and scurry and jump. But that part was too big for my kiddo so we went to the smaller section a few steps away. There was a structure to climb, several slides, some bars, and then even a little further away a bunch of swings. I tried to keep her from seeing the swings, to be honest, since I didn't want to have to deal with an upset kiddo when we had to leave without enough swing time. She played around a bit but didn't seem as interested in the playground. We went down a slide or two, but some of them had standing water since it has been a bit rainy recently. The playground isn't technically fenced in, but it is effectively so because it's behind the practice courts which are all fenced in. It'd be hard for your kid to get away from you. There's a parking lot for the Norridge Park District building but the neighborhood parking could be tricky, especially in the summer because there is restricted parking from Memorial Day to Labor Day (ostensibly because of the large pool structure that would keep the residents from having any parking for three months otherwise). The terrain of the park is wood chips and soil, decidedly not my favorite (maybe especially after a rain) and she got dirty pretty quick. I may bring her back when she's old enough to play on the rocket ship, but this won't be a park that we return to much if ever.

Very very nice huge playground in the woods. The air is clean, the people are nice... I wish we…read morelived closer :))) it has actually 3 playgrounds near to each orher

This review is way past due. The park is so nice and has a walking path, tennis courts,…read moreplayground, pavillion and pond. The path is approximately 0.7 miles. The views are beautiful , as well as the landscaping.

Nice park！！！Beautiful view, clean water ,good for picnic and play to do anyting！！！Kids, also adult…read morewill be fun！

Can't believe I didn't review this place! Nature deserves reviews 2…read more Meachum Grove is a great place for running up a huge hill that most people seem to think is hard! My friends dad said running up that hill was the reason he was able to finish the marathon! I guess to him mentally running up the hill was hard, for me sprinting hills is easy peezy. But running long distance itself was hard for me. So the best place to train for a full marathon was Busse Woods doing the loop 2X's on Sundays. Meachum grove isn't too bad for 4-6 miles, but you'll have to run it 3-4 times so it's not ideal if you don't like doing loops. I did train here for marathons though because of the hill aspect.

Great little path, little bit of an incline going up over the bridge, can be a little rough as some…read moreof the trail is just gravel and dirt. Friendly people walking along this path saying hello and smiling at you.

The nature center is a great place to see some animals and other exhibits. The forest is much…read morebigger than it looks from the street and has nice flat paths. We saw several deer and chipmunks. Great place to go for a hike.

Well, on this hot and muggy Sunday, we decided to have an atypical weekend visit to the shady Grove…read moreto do our almost daily walk. We typically only visit here on quieter weekday mornings. We were pleasantly surprised and fortunate to find the Blacksmith Shop open and that is the case only on Saturdays and Sundays from 11am to 3pm. Alec was the blacksmith on duty and he provided some insights into his craft as well as a walk-through of their various iron products, both functional and decorative. He is one of five volunteer blacksmiths on the staff here and really enjoys his time here. Thanks for the tour Alec!

Friendship Park Conservatory is part of the the Mt. Prospect Park District. It has beautiful…read moreindoor and outdoor spaces commonly rented out for events, banquets, and environmental program. The outdorr grounds has a large variety of flowerbeds, a pavilion, a butterfly garden, and a wooden gazebo. I have been to several events hosted by the park district or private. This time we were there for the Native Plant sale . The sale took place in the outdoor pavilion . The conservatory's greenhouse staff where available to answer questions. All the plants were neonictinoid-free, , making them 100% safe for local pollinators and birds. Plants were 3 for $15 . The proceeds from the plant sale go directly toward supporting the Mt. Prospect Park District's environmental initiatives and educational programming

I held my daughter's baby shower here. They supply the chairs and tables. We arrived 45 minutes…read moreearly to set up everything. This baby shower was in November so we used their large indoor room. There's a big outdoor area that would be amazing for a summer event. The price is very reasonable.

Wilder Park is a nice park in Elmhurst. It has a playground, conservatory, veterans memorial, and…read morelots of green space for children to play. This makes a great place to take a walk and enjoy the outdoors. I highly recommend Wilder Park!

Great heart of Elmhurst, hope they don't ruin it with an unnecessary band shell…read more The Wilder Mansion is a great place for any occasion.

I so adore this park!! I remember dreaming of bringing my own children here one day, while nannying…read moremy way through college, and that day finally arrived TODAY. I appreciate the beautiful greenery, and although the park is faded and more worn than it was 11 years ago, my daughter and her bestie (4) had an absolute blast here! We spent a solid 3 hours here, bouncing between the spray park, playground, hedge maze and sandpit. The grass is spacious enough for a picnic lunch, and there are also two picnic tables on site. There are bathrooms onsite, including a family restroom which is great for changing. Not the cleanest, but decent for a park. I do wish they'd bring back the bench swings!

I've been hearing about this park for a while and we were able to take a visit over there today…read more I'm glad I knew what I was looking for because Google Maps was going to take me to a small playground on the other side of the school, rather than Little Bear Park which is on the very corner of Patriot and Chestnut (and is almost entirely fenced in, which makes it attractive with little kids). The Little Bear Park is actually a section within the larger Gallery Park, so you may need to put that in if your GPS is confused about LBP. This park was established as part of the redevelopment of the military airfield in Glenview. Overall, I was disappointed in the park, but there were some things I really loved about it along with those that left a bit to be desired. First, it looked like a gorgeous, romantic garden like you might envision from an Austen novel. Truly a beautiful setting, with a small hedge maze and a several picnic tables. Quite an idyllic little spot within the larger park, and ostensibly where it gets the "garden park" part of its name. There's also a really awesome water feature here. It's really large, and unlike some "splash pads" that are little more than a tall pipe sticking out of the ground, this one had several arms coming out of the ground of different heights. It also had some water coming from spots in the ground, for a lot of different ways to play. My kiddo got soaked and loved it. Sadly, the playground section looked kind of old and worn. It has a cute castle/medieval theme, but all the play equipment was quite faded. Of more concern was that the playground terrain, which was that composite rubbery stuff, was broken off in quite a few places; more than once my babe brought me small or large pieces. Seems potentially fraught in a few different ways, but it was weird since in all the parks I've been to with that kind of ground cover I haven't seen chunks of it missing throughout the playground. There's lots of parking at/around this park, because it shares space with a middle school and park district headquarters. The playground itself isn't the attraction for me--though if we are already in Glenview, I might stop--but I would absolutely return for a beautiful picnic in the garden, and that's what really makes it shine.