I stopped by in the afternoon and was surprised to see a lot of the brush had been cleared away for…read morea much better view of the lake. There were more people here (it must be spring) and I saw that the restrooms had been rebuilt (burnt down in fall) and didn't have that horrible smell. There are now permit parking regulations in place around Fort Sheridan residences so beware parking there if the lot is full.

Came on Sunday before Memorial day and was raining in the morning so it was a bit muddy in some…read morepart of the trail. Beautiful stony beach area and lookout points. Parking space could get full on busy days. Lots of bird spotting. We did a 2mile round trip walk but there are shorter routes.

Lake Forest Park! This is a pretty big park, with lots of…read moregrass, trees, and good nice landscaping. There's a playground that looks inviting. I didn't see any restrooms, but I read elsewhere that there are some nearby. The sidewalk that takes you across the park is smooth, and there's plenty of green grass along the path to hang out in. The park feels safe. It's in a really nice neighborhood with picturesque large houses along all sides of the park. I wonder if this park is named after Kanye West, the rapper, or Adam West, the original Batman, or Mae West the actress...

Great little park. Some shade. Benches and a few tables. Bathroom nearby. Parking.read more

This is a super cool playground in Highland Park. My children had a blast running around the three…read moreseparate playgrounds. I even took a nice long walk around the park. I also saw a dedicated area for skateboarding. The restrooms were clean.

This is my kids' favorite park, 10/10! The main attraction is a huge rocket ship that they can…read moreclimb in all sorts of different ways, and it has great slides too. There's also a separate play area for younger kids, which is perfect if you have little ones. One of the coolest features is a spinning swing where you sit on a rope and hold on while it takes you around in a circle. It's so much fun! We could spend hours here and the kids never want to leave!!

Had never been to this small size farm and Café/Farm market in Lake Forest. Went for breakfast and…read moretook a nice walk around the property. You can sign up to hang out with the goats, and there are also chickens and ducks. The food and my lavender latte were yummy. I will definitely be back over the summer just to walk in the beauty of nature.

Went to Elawa Farm for a community dinner; truly farm to table. Chef Lee prepared a delicious…read morechili, green pepper/onion/rice, jalapeno corn bread and a plum cobbler. This was the first chili I had made without tomatoes and beans. Local meats were used. The green peppers were picked this morning. Elawa Farm has the best community dinners. They also do cooking demonstrations. Highly recommend looking into this amazing place.

I fully admit that having teenage boys at home during the pandemic has been a lot. At some point…read moreeach day, my hubby and I get in the car and talk through all our troubles (translation: complain about having children) while driving up north along the lake. We often end up parked in our car staring at Lake Michigan at Forest Park Beach. We're convinced that all the other couples we see there are also doing the same thing ;-) Last week, our laziness and overwhelm forced us to get out of the car and take in a fresh air walk along the lakefront. We walked south past the concessions and over near the boating facility. We typically don't leave our car unattended, just in case we might get a ticket. We took the risk, and it was so worth it. TBH I don't think they are monitoring the parking lots or ticketing right now, but I'm not 100% sure. What an absolutely gorgeous discovery! We honestly felt like we were on vacation (without kids). The air was fresh, the water was fairly calm, and we felt grateful to be living near such a beautiful oasis. Along the walkway we discovered a play area for kids, boats ready to launch, a covered area with picnic tables, tall lampposts and pristine landscaping. At the very end of our walk was a goose waiting for her goose companion to come back from sea (lol). We learned from a local that the goose had been there for a few days. Anyway, the sidewalk came to an abrupt end, something like out of a Shel Silverstein poem. We turned around, took a deep breath, and received a call from one of our sons that he and his brother were about to bring a bunch of friends over to our house. And just like that, our peace and calm came to a stop. Until next time...

Lake Forest Beach is a public area with fees incurred for public access. I am a person with a…read moredisability and unable to walk far distances and can not use stairs (age 59) female. I was harassed/shamed when I requested a reasonably accommodation to be dropped off/picked up. I did not ask for entry/parking. All I wanted was a small accommodation to be dropped off and picked up. I was harassed and wasn't allowed to be picked up due to my disability. This is a violation of the ADA (American Disability Act) and was discriminated against due to my disability. LFB is considered a public park and was in violation of my rights as a person with a disability. I understand there are rules and I just wanted a reasonable accommodation to be allowed to be dropped off and picked up not harassed and shamed and left standing in the heat while my husband explained the situation. He showed the gate guard a copy of my "Illinois ID marked as a person with a disability." Beach management need to educate their staff as to making simple reasonable accommodations for people with a disability. They (staff) have no rights to judge and disregard persons with a disability. Such can be reported and subject to significant fines and lawsuits. I suggest ADA compliance and policies for persons with a disability are seriously reviewed and followed according to the American Disability Act. This should NOT have transpired and was humiliating, to be honest.

It is a Lake Bluff residents beach. Not sure if some people sneak in or what…read more... We were enjoying the beach with lots of space. All of a sudden a family came and sat in front of us for no reason. Speechless!!

Was way too crowded. Not nearly as nice as it used to be. The beach was not well maintained (weedy,…read moredebris). It was also very noisy. Disappointed.

I recently attended this park for a pickleball event but I am here to express my appreciation for…read morethis beautiful public park. Several years ago I took tennis lessons here. I also took taekwondo lessons (outside) here and I used to drop a family member at the ice arena for ice skating lessons. In winter, the sledding hill is a fun way to enjoy some outdoor activity. The children's play area looks well maintained. The accessible all gender restrooms are clean and in order. This is a beautiful park to watch sports, participate in sports, or enjoy the great outdoors.

This park has really blossomed over the years with a lot of activities. We only explored the…read moreplaygrounds on this visit, which were really nicely spread out. The playgrounds were fenced in and had soft cushioned surfaces. There was plenty of seating nearby too. By the playgrounds were tennis courts, pickleball courts and a basketball court. The park is just missing permanent bathrooms and a refillable water bottle station. The rest of the park has a frisbee golf course, ball fields, soccer fields, ice skating rink, sledding hill and plenty of parking.

My 4 year olds' favorite playground. The kids and parents are pretty friendly- Hence the name! I've…read morebeen coming here since I was my child's age. We have some classic photos decades apart.

There's no shortage of great parks in Glencoe so I was surprised when we moved here last winter…read morethat the "Friends Park" smack in the middle of downtown Glencoe was pretty shabby. Soon after moving we learned it was getting a major facelift and watched as they built it all summer long. I had high hopes it would be ready before the end of summer, but as the days progressed that looked unlikely. And soon there were flyers all over town promising a park dedication party. My 2 1/2 year old obviously can't read, but somehow she figured out that this was a party she needed to attend...and reminded me everyday for a month. Tonight was park dedication night and even the threat of a storm didn't keep all 8000 people in Glencoe from attending. It was an absolute madhouse of excited children and my daughter literally ran around screaming "I LOVE GLENCOE." And I gotta admit there's a lot to love about this park. Besides the ideal location for a quick stop here during a trip to town it has park equipment to put smiles on the faces of kids of all ages. My daughter isn't really into climbing structures, but she couldn't get enough of the swings and a stationary choo-choo train that does a nice job of providing shade on a hot day. Although tonight may have been the "official" opening of the park, it's been in use for almost a week now. And based on the crowds each day I think it's safe to say this was one successful facelift.