Love love love woodstock square! From Groundhog Day to Christmas lights and everything in between!…read more Cute stores, opera house has fun shows, movie theatre is great and lots of fun places to eat! If you haven't been here - you are missing out!

We were in the area and stopped by Woodstock square to check out their Saturday farmers market. The…read moregrounds are pretty and well maintained. The location has several landmark buildings with plenty of unique boutique shops and restaurants lining the square. Sections of streets are cobblestone paved adding to its historic charm. Surprisingly, this is also the location where nearly 30 years ago Groundhog Day was filmed. The opera house was the location of the Pennsylvanian Hotel and the pavilion in the center was Gobbler's Knob where actor Bill Murray who plays a local newscaster is stuck in an unfortunate time loop while reporting on Punxsutawney Phil's annually celebrated shadow sighting. If you want to partake in some winter fun and movie history, the Square holds their own Groundhog Day on February 2nd.

Lake in the hills fen park. It's an outdoor park called Fen park and is in the town of lake in the…read morehills. Fen park can be walked in or viewed from Standing and looking.

Hidden gem in LITH!! Peaceful, lovely scenic trails. It's a beautiful walk. The pavilion is great…read morefor a packed lunch or hanging out with a good book.

I returned here after visiting about 30 years ago, and was very impressed with the trails. You can…read morespend many days here and still not see all the areas the park offers. We parked at the Oak Opening area and hiked down to Lake Defiance, taking the Lake Defiance Trail. We stopped at the Nature Center to see some displays and chat with the ranger, and then continued our hike. Seeing the moraines, the leftover hills and ridges from the retreating Wisconsin Glacier, 10's of thousands of years ago, was a geologic trip through time. This is a great local state park that does not have an entrance fee! (None of our state parks have entrance fees to the best of my knowledge!) This is a place I can't wait to get back to explore, right in the backyard of the Chicago 'burbs!

Very thankful my son recommended training for long runs at Moraine Hills. His mapping of the route…read moreprovided a great roadmap. There is signage, mileage marking and different surfaces (soft and asphalt). for the trails. The varying elevations provide great opportunities to train well. It did not disappoint. Thank you!!

I've hiked Veteran Acres many, many times. There's a decent variety of trails and they do a pretty…read moregood job of maintaining them. I'll run into deer; especially early in the AM or at dusk. Not very crowded. And you don't feel like you're in the middle of Crystal Lake once you get back into the wooded areas.

Veteran Acres Park is gorgeous, with a clean and historic nature center and plenty of hiking…read moretrails, with water features sprinkled in. I really enjoyed looking at the animals inside such as the snakes, and the trails were difficult enough to be challenging, but easy enough to enjoy the beautiful surroundings. I'm taking a star off because they were spraying Roundup all over the park while we were there, and the lake was quite green. Regardless, it was a fun experience to connect with nature and get off of our phones. We saw some caterpillars, chipmunks, and a lot of turtles. I remember coming here as a child, and will continue to visit when I'm in the area for some fresh air. I didn't see any ticks, but keep in mind there can be ticks and mosquitos in the damper months.

I'm missing this riverwalk because it is currently -9. I remember grabbing some Rita's italian ice…read morewhich is in the vicinity and just hanging out by the river on a warm summer day. This area is a mix of quaint, somewhat romantic (the bridge), and active, with a small park and a handful of cool, tiny shops. It really is but a sliver of riverwalk but I'd say it should be more than enough of a short stroll for you as you end an evening.

Want to view green waters on St Patrick's Day? You don't have to contend with the crowds in…read moreChicago. They dye the water green here. See my pics. It's a very pretty area with cool shops & restaurants to check out. Free parking is available within a mile of the festivities.

If you're local it's awesome , if you're an out of towner like me you have to pay to park then pay…read moreto get in which sucks

What an amazing place! How did I not ever know about this? It is free for entrance otherwise it's a…read morefive dollar visitor fee. If you wish to go to the main beach, that's an additional $12 if you are not a resident of Crystal Lake. The grounds are immaculate, very well maintained, and the bathrooms are clean. There are two lakes, multiple pavilions that you can rent ahead of time. Lots of picnic tables for you to sit down. Near the bar and grill while you can't go in the water, you can take your drink and sit on one of the cheers on the beach. You can watch people practice on their WaveRunner. Swing on the swings at the bar and listen to great music. I did not have any food here. I did have an amazing Mojito. The bartender was a young man looking to join the Barrington police force. Polite, kind and also had great customer service skills. The reason why I didn't give it five stars is that there are absolutely no markings anywhere as to what trail you are on, how long of a trail it is, and where there may be porta potties. There aren't any maps or QR codes and it was a bit confusing as I came upon several wise and the trail to decide which way to go as I had limited time there. Given the fact that everything is so nicely taken care of I don't know how they can't have at least some markings on the trails that they have there. One of the workers sent me direction and it literally just took me to a pavilion. They have kayaks, canoes, paddle boats and SUP boards. They also offer lessons for SUP depending on the day. Lots of people fishing. Amazing Place! Please add signage for the trails! The pop and water machine near the beach entrance did not work. Hopefully those are checked daily to repair.

The area is absolutely breathtaking. There are lots of different things to do like hiking and…read morebirdwatching. There was a winter event when we visited and everyone was so inviting and welcoming.

We took a nice 2.5 mile hike and really enjoyed our hike at Glacial park. Trails are great and just…read morea truly beautiful part of illinois. The rolling hills are overall easy to moderate for the most part. The colors of trees where amazing at this time of year and really enjoyed the cooler weather as we hiked along the well maintained trails. We hiked the glacial park loop for about 2.3 miles and brought our dog who loved it! I would highly recommend heading to Glacial Park for this wonderful sights and wild life adventure!

Great time out with the family came for a picnic did a little fishing and my three-year-old ran…read morearound had so much fun on the beach

We went for a walk this morning and loved the trail. The water was very clear with just the right…read moreamount of activity,

The property is very well kept and even the roadway is. There are never disturbances, I live on the…read moreroad and have never been disturbed and on top of it, this property is very peaceful. The owner is very kind and always checks up on us, whether it's to see what fish we caught or if we need anything at all. I come here multiple times a week because it is so worth it to me. Castle Park attracts so many friendly people and I met a lot of others with a similar love for the outdoors at this property. It is also kid friendly. Whether I come to go for a walk, fish, or even have a picnic, this is the place to go!

Best fishing ever! Nine stocked ponds to choose from. Just the beautiful scenery is worth the cost…read moreof entrance. Go fishing anywhere for free and catch nothing or pay $25.00 here and catch so many fish you won't believe it. You can't keep them, but the fun is catching them anyway.

Good park is in McHenry. It's about the only good park. Veterans Memorial Park is a nice place to…read morecome relax. Has bathrooms. Though these seem to always be locked. A fairly good amount of park for a town and there's often events. It's a popular gathering place. The last time there was even a wedding. Or at least they were just taking pictures. There's also a bandstand that's popular for concerts in summer. Fun place to hang around. It gets boring after awhile but it's still a pretty nice park. There's also festivals and things.

This is a cute little gem in McHenry. Oddly enough I'd only driven by and had seen it from…read moreRiverside Dr., but had never gone until yesterday! There is a large white gazeebo that's nice for pictures and, apparently, bands also play there. There's also a covered picnic area with several picnic tables that looks like it could seat 50-70 or so people. The playground was nice - clean, with a good number of options for both little kiddos (my nephew is 3.5 years old) to older kids and, erhm, adults. :) Nothing was broken, peeling, or an obvious hazard. There's also a brown mini-gazeebo near the park that has both a water fountain on top and a faucet towards the bottom (good to fill a dog bowl, wash dirty feet, or to just play and splash, as my nephew did).