Wonderful visit! Our family of 10 ages from 93-3 all found something to love! Well planted…read moregardens and wonderful wildflower prairie full of multi-colored plants and tall grasses. Lots of birds to watch. Thoughtful train garden with working model trains on a huge layout. It told the history of trains in America including laying the first tracks to Civil War and Lincoln's funeral train up to current passenger and freight trains. Every detail was perfect from a Bald Eagle in the "mountains " to the Golden Spike where East met West. Many bridges added to the thorough details! A walk to another area included the "Adventure" garden witch was more like a farm garden. It included chickens, goats, rabbits and turkeys as well as vegetables in raised beds. Further along under the canopy of tall trees was a new Music Garden with "instruments " that mimicked the sounds of nature. This visit did not have time to include everything this arboretum had to offer -- so we will definitely be back!!!

The adventure garden is small, but cute! This was well done for little explorers. It would be nice…read moreif the train ran a bit more regularly in the model train gardens, and the playground near the trains could use a little TLC. There were nice trails and a beautiful atmosphere overall!

Very fun and a great way to enjoy nature. Definitely would recommend, has trails, a park, and…read morerestrooms. Perfect for quick outdoor adventures.

Went there around 1pm was at pit 1 and around 5pm we were told to leave immediately in a…read moredisrespectful way there where no reserve sign placed at pit 1 for a church reunion and the guy from the park recreation name JOE DISRESPECTED ME AND FAMILY and we come here all the time in our city to be treated like this???hope no one else experience this bad situation and i hope the city acts to this inhumane matter that was present on 9/28/25.........

Beautiful walking trail. The trail is clean, well-paved and safe. Lots of people on it but not too…read morecrowded. Only one downfall for someone recouping from surgery, no places to seat for a break.

Easily my favorite trail. Growing up this used to be train tracks but since 2008 it's a trail…read more Convient to use however a woman was sexual assaulted recently so be careful. Awesome place for the neighborhood

It was a breath of fresh air the afternoon I decided to conduct a hike on the Salt Creek Trail…read moreSystem, starting at Brookfield Woods trailhead. What interested me about Brookfield Woods compared to the other trailheads nearby is that it is the mile marker starting point for the Salt Creek Trail System. As an outdoor fitness enthusiast who has been running for years, I would categorize the difficulty level as easy because the terrain is flat! I encountered mostly walkers, a few joggers, and many recreational bike riders along this path. While on it I felt that peaceful sense of being in nature as I heard birds chirping, the wind blowing, and the sound of the flowing salt creek which was off to my left while going out. I even got glimpses of chipmunk and squirrel running across my path; some even startling me at times when close by which also kept me in the moment during my hike. On my turnaround, I encountered a Canadian goose which I am absolutely terrified of! I am even known to alter my run routes just to avoid them out of fear of being attacked! It hissed at me as I went around it; it is like it instantly got its little goose panties in a bunch. I swear my heart rate increased as I eased by it because the last thing I wanted to experience was getting my ass kicked by a Canadian goose. That is a losing situation that I am unsure how I will bounce back from, but bye bye goose! I spent a little over forty-minutes during my hike on the path but could have easily gone longer if I were running instead. There are a variety of activities you can conduct on the Salt Creek Trail System path which extends 7.1 miles out; some of those activities I can certainly see are hiking, running, walking, biking, or even in-line skating. Other than my encounter with the Canadian goose, I had a pleasant experience on the Salt Creek Trail System as indicated in this review and would return. As a runner, I can see myself returning just to explore more of the Salt Creek Trail System. ~An adventure a day keeps the doctor away. ~ Thomas G

We entered at Brezina Woods, in LaGrange. If you are looking for a COVID-era place for a quiet…read morefamily walk, this is NOT the place. We only saw a few other people wearing masks. And it was so crowded, we left after only a mile. It was hard to maintain social distance on the paved path while avoiding the many bikers, roller bladers, and walkers. We found a few quiet side trials that each led 200-300 feet into the woods, but due to recent rains, those paths were very muddy, then flooded. We did find some moss. And some pretty trees and plants. So we hung out in the woods, then got out and went home. Pros: Free. Free parking. Clean trials. Plenty of parking. Paved trials. Not too many mosquitoes. Con: this trail goes through residential areas. We were literally passing inches from backyards of homes, yards filled with people. Fair enough. It is their home!! But it felt weird to just walk past their backyard while everyone is outside doing family stuff.

Palos Preserves has a lot going on. You can fish; in fact, I saw a few people doing that. There…read morewere several people biking through the preserves (some casual, some much more hard core). Walking trails, which is what I was using with the group I was in. Of course, Camp Bullfrog is a major attraction at this site, situated on Bullfrog Lake; you can rent paces for camping anywhere from 2 or 3 days up to 10 days per month. And there's also picnic groves around the place too. There are a few port-a-potties, and there may be an actual restroom with flush toilets a bit southwest of Bullfrog Lake; I forgot to check. Nearby are Sagawau Nature Center and the Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center, amongst other places. Palos is an International Dark Sky location, so the Forest Preserve District of Cook County sometimes has programs here. There's some hilliness here, and some of the areas I was in were not accessible--though it's possible the campsite is. You should contact them if you are in need of an accessible place to recreate.

Never in a million years would I have believed you if you told me that one of the best running…read moretrails in the USA was in IL. But that's exactly what I found at Palos Forest Preserves. I ignored the Yelp map directions, which drops you in the middle of the street, and instead followed that street until it became a dead end. I parked in the parking lot by the dead end and began my trail there. This ended up being about a 2-2 1/2 hour adventure, at about 16K steps (running half way). The trail has some nice markers to help keep you on the right track, but more would be even better because I ended up doing "eenie meenie minie moe" at several junction points and just hoped for the best. My favorite part about these trails were the inclines and natural obstacle courses. Watch out for the trees though. A couple of the roots reached out and grabbed my foot on more than one occasion, causing me to kiss the ground. I'm certain I heard some giggles coming from the treetops. Cheeky lil bastards. The views were breathtaking during my autumn visits. Very peaceful in many areas and not too crowded, unless you came on the weekend when the bikers take over. They treat it like it's their world, which is very annoying. If I lived in the area, I would definitely frequent these woods with my mountain bike. If running/hiking was fun, biking would be a blast! However, I would remember to share the trails with pedestrians.

Averaging a 3 because the hiking trail isn't that great (2 star tops) but the park, picnic and…read moregazebo areas are great! (Solid 4) The trail is quite buggy during summer because of many pools and rivulets of standing water. Which also makes the trail and its smaller offshoots quite damp and muddy too. When it does dry up some, the mosquitos are still there but not as abundant as normally. The playground area is clean and the munchkin enjoys it quite a bit. The only qualm I have with it is that there's a wee bit of graffiti featuring some choice words that our little one hasn't noticed yet. Other than that the equipment is in great condition and the mulch grounds are seemingly maintained.

Great park. Park was clean, it has basketball court, gazebos, soccer field, and sand volleyball…read morecourts. Also has a small pond, and a short hiking trail. Portable bathrooms available. How many Parks have all these different options...

Want a free workout that will kick your butt? Head over to the Swallow Cliff stairs. There are…read morepeople of all fitness levels that make the trek here. Stay to the right and keep your own pace. The forest preserve has done a nice job maintaining the area. There are tables to have a picnic, clean bathrooms, and seasonal café. There is a decent amount of parking too. It does get packed if weather is nice. People like to use rocks to track their loop numbers. Signs say no dogs allowed on the stairs.

Popular on the weekends. The parking going in can fill up but if you drive closer to the stairs…read morethere is an additional parking on the left side. The stairs is actually not that high possibly only a hundred steps. The left stairs only has 1 landing 3/4 way up. The right-hand side stairs has landings every 15 steps or so. The trail by the woods is well-shaded. If you want to skip the stairs and just walk on the woods there is a parking lot entrance from Rt 45.