I visited the pickle ball courts at Eugene Field Park for the first time this morning and had a…read moregreat experience! Though there were only two courts to play on, people were very friendly and rotated out after their games were over. The area was clean, bright, and a fun atmosphere for all! The nearby park and splash pad area looked like a fun spot for the kiddos, and there were tennis lessons happening in the courts next to us! Lots of fun on this Sunday morning!

The park district has allowed the homeless encampment to spread right next to the children's…read moreplayground at foster and avers. And now a new one appeared right next to the baseball field. The one next to the playground has been there for months. Since then, I've seen an uptick of drinking and drug use, people from the encampment walking down the alleys looking into back yards, guys with crazy behavior next to field house. If they weren't causing problems in the community, it would be a different story. But is a public safety and health issue. Please remove these so we can enjoy our park again. Parents please be careful with your kids around here.

Come here to learn about nature and natural areas. It certainly is a good place for children…read morewanting to know more. North Park Village Nature Center has a long and interesting history through the years. A lot of after school programs. There's also day camps in summer among other things. A kind of hidden place surrounded by the North Park Village campus. It's over 58 acres of natural area and educational facility. There's trails going through prairies, savannas, wetlands, and woodlands. Before this was a nature center, this used to be a sanitarium for tuberculosis patients to get care and live. The city chose this site in 1909, and it operated until the 1970s when tuberculosis was eradicated mostly. It was saved from being demolished for commercial property, and this park was created. Learn more in the Discovery Room, which is located in the middle of it. There's also plenty to explore outside, with the trails and woodlands of the Walking Stick Woods. Has programs for children, families, and adults. The Eco-Explorers summer day camp has nature themed activities and games. Bigger area than it seems to be. It's located at Peterson and Pulaski. This is a good place for exploring nature whether adults, children, or whoever wants to know about this kind of stuff.

I visited here again yesterday with the Chicago Nature Journaling Club. I hadn't explored too much…read morewhen I was last here but did so a bit more to find a place to journal. I didn't realize that they had so many different habitats here, but there are woodlands, prairie, savannah, and wetlands. There's an area in which there's a man-made waterfall and stream which is quite nice and peaceful. I really like it here, and I'm lucky it's pretty nearby. I didn't know until I was here yesterday that this nature center was once a part of the Chicago Tuberculosis Sanitarium. for nearly 60 years. It's quite different now, obviously, and I'm glad they found a way to put this land to good use for the benefit of the community.

Portage Park has become one of my go-to spots to stay active. I jog here pretty regularly, and the…read morepaths are smooth, open, and easy to loop depending on how long I want to run. Early mornings especially are peaceful -- fresh air, open space, and just a solid environment to clear your head. I also play pickleball here, and the courts always have a good energy. They can get active, but I've never had any issues. People are respectful, games rotate smoothly, and it feels like a positive community vibe rather than chaotic. The park is well kept, clean, and just overall reliable. I've been coming here consistently for runs and games and have genuinely never had a problem. It's one of those neighborhood spots you're glad to have nearby.

Come play sports or just chill in this big park in the neighborhood named after it. In this popular…read moregreen space are numerous athletic fields and a playground among other stuff. Portage Park is big enough to go on a pretty long nature walk. Also it's popular for photography and other events. The park has a massive Olympic size swimming pool that has hosted competitions and trials. Best thing about this area is this beautiful green space that's the center of the community. It's got something for everyone. The athletic facilities and fields are the most well known. So many to choose from. These include five baseball fields, two football or soccer fields, and six tennis courts just among the stuff you can find outdoors. Has two fieldhouses. Of course there's also the swimming pool. This has hosted the Pan American Games and also the 1972 Olympic Trials. Also there's an indoor one that's heated. There's an interactive water play area popular in summer. A lot of after school and youth programs are offered. These include gymnastics and woodcraft. Boxing is also a popular program offered here. There's been many who went on to the Olympics and professional careers after being taught. Some come to this park just to get outside. There's a bike path and nature walk if wanting to get easier exercise without using balls and stuff. Good park for all kinds of activities. It's located on Irving Park Road. The CTA station is a ways away, but buses go along this street pretty often, even on weekends.

I've been wanting to visit this park since it opened, but it never came to pass. I'm really glad we…read moregot to visit during their 10th anniversary celebration! That party was cool; they had various community orgs, like a citizen science group and the Budlong Woods branch of CPL here to share info and stuff. There were park volunteers doing arts and crafts with the kids. They even had a fishing derby in the little pond, I think, which was really cool. There's at least one or two works of art in the park that are nice as well. This isn't your typical CPD park. It's a nature area that was acquired from neighboring Rosehill Cemetery and developed into a natural area/native preserve. Though the cemetery is over 150 years old, this portion on the northwest corner of Western & Peterson was never used for burials and was simply an undeveloped section of the cemetery. I used to live a couple blocks away from here and remember thinking it was a bit of an eyesore. But the Chicago Park District, and the advisory council for the park, have done wondrous things. There's a walking path throughout the park for a leisurely stroll. The park also hosts various events; I believe they recently had an equinox program, and I hope the bat program comes up again so I can take my little one. They even had Hocus Pocus movie night a few days ago (just before Halloween). But my favorite part by far is the nature play space. It's gorgeous! There are lots of benches and stumps for adults and children to sit on, and they had a couple of outdoor play kitchens. There's a little mound (which to a small child could look hill-sized) for kids to play and sit on. There's a small stage and I'm not sure if they've always had events or if they've started hosting more, but I'm keeping an eye on it because it's truly one of the best nature play spaces I've seen around. It's absolutely worth a visit if you have children, or just want a little quiet contemplation.

We had a great morning at West Ridge Nature Park! We came here on a Sunday morning to celebrate the…read more10th anniversary of the park. They had a lot of kid friendly activities like face painting, coloring, fossils to look at, and our favorite -- music from old town school of folk music! After enjoying some wheels on the bus, we walked around pond. The path was so pretty and well kept. We saw lots of geese, butterflies, squirrels, and even a hawk which my two year old loved. Our favorite though, was all the turtles! We saw about 10 out in the pond swimming. They were so cute, we could have sat out there for a hours watching them bob around. Definitely recommend West Ridge if you're wanting some peace in the city.

Better alternative to the crowded trail along the lake. It has plenty of beauty of its own to see…read more North Shore Channel Trail goes from the Ravenswood neighborhood to Evanston, a long ways. Has lots of nature to come across. There's a few parks along it and other fun things. A lot less crowded on this trail and it's still got pretty good views along it. It's about 7 miles from the beginning to end, so that's a good way to work out. This begins at the intersection of Francisco and Lawrence in Ravenswood. First it goes north through River Park. There's trails on both sides of the channel most of the time. It goes all the way to Green Bay Road and McCormick Boulevard in Evanston. The trail is made of variously of asphalt, gravel, and crushed limestone. Has to be one of the less appreciated trails around here. It's not as popular as the one by the lake to be sure. There's plenty of parks along the way so these make for good places to stop for bicyclists, runners, or whoever.

How did I not know a paved, uncongested bike trail ran along the river from Lawrence to Golf where…read moreit turns to fine gravel and continues on... I don't know apparently to Wisconsin? OK, that might not be true but it at least hits Wilmette. Regardless, it's an absolutely wonderful surprise. You can pick it up on the north side of Lawrence between Sacramento and California. It takes you along the east side of the channel, through parks and under cross streets until almost Devon. There you jog northwest on Lincoln to re pick it up on the west side. You follow McCormick through Lincolnwood and Skokie with trees and sculpture and happily few people to keep you company. It's a great little ride. Maybe 10-12 miles round trip with all the twists and turns. I also love that I've seen none of the super serious jackwads with their full body spandex and forward triathlon bars going 35 miles an hour and looking at you like you're in the way if you ride casually. There are a few other cyclists and walkers. At the lots along McCormick folks clearly park and walk to the many benches to eat lunch on nice days. But even on a beautiful weekday in the low 80's with little wind I was alone with my thoughts and camera most of the time. There are port-a-potties at one of the lots near the midway point but once across Lincoln there aren't water fountains like there are in the city parks. If you really need hydration you can always jump off the path, back into real life just a few hundred yards away, and grab something to drink. Make sure you to remember to press the pedestrian button at intersections once out of the city or you'll never get across. Also even though it's a lot of fun don't accelerate through the downhill blind turns as you hit the under passes. There are lots of strollers and moms with kids in tow. Save those collisions for the d-bags on lakefront path.

Jacob Park is entirely redone with brand new equipment! (pretend the picture shown has all new…read moreeverything) Perfect place for the neighborhood. And because it is tucked away in the corner on one way streets it isn't very busy. It's a bit smaller, but a very nice park. My daughter gives it 5 stars!

Short loop with a riverbank trail and tree shade. Good for a quick walk. Can get muddy during rainy…read moredays. Easy to park.

Take this entire review with a gigantic grain of salt, because I only came here once, it was cold…read moreand we didn't walk very far, and we missed out on the water element entirely. As seems to be the case these days, we* had hours to kill before our return flights to LAX and SFO (by way of LAS), respectively, so we drove around Chicago almost aimlessly. (You should know me by now; even when it seems like I'm meandering randomly, there's a pattern to my patternlessness.) I knew my mom would want to see Lake Shore Drive, so we took it from its humble southern beginnings, which I had never done before. We got to the end way quicker than I thought we would, and none of us were hungry yet, so I headed west and then north and then west and then northwest or west, and soon, we were in Lincolnwood, Illinois. I did not want to remain in Lincolnwood, Illinois, so I looked for something big and green on my map, and after a couple of missed turns, we drove right into LaBagh Woods. There was an immediate fork in the road, and seeing people walking and jogging to my right and nothing special to my left, I turned right. That would, ultimately, be a bad move. To the left was a small pond. Beyond that lay the Chicago River's North Branch. But all of it was obscured by trees, so I went right, and there were trees, winter-dead grass, plenty of parking spots, and a path. The cold (about forty-two, according to the rental car's external thermometer) was too much for my dad, who wasn't really dressed for the cold and who doesn't enjoy being outside in the cold anyway, so after we got to the end of the path, we doubled back and drove away. If I had known about what turning left could do, I would have at least driven back that way for the water element. I'm sure it's beautiful and four-star-worthy in the summertime. What bothered me, though, was the absolute lack of benches in any and all directions. Yes, there are covered picnic areas with tables and benches, but all parks--especially parks this large--should have benches interspersed throughout so that people can sit down and take a load off. I might come back, but how often am I this far northwest in Chicago? OK, OK, I've been near here two out my last two visits, but really, I don't normally venture up this far. *My dad, mom, and I.

06/20/24 - Gorgeous morning 70 degrees @ 7:30am. I had to get out before the heat. I saw an old…read morefriend Dan from my neighborhood walking his dog Lucy a beautiful Gold golden retriever & met Colleen walking her dog Aurora a Pyrenees an absolute marshmallow. I also witnessed the little sparrows feasting on the 17 yr cicadas. They have to gorge while they can when there is a huge abundance of the little critters. The cycle is ending soon and I haven't seen any in Forest Glen even though I'm literally surrounded on 3 sides by woods.

Met at 730am for a bird walk. Living in the Western Burbs we hardly ever go birding in the city…read more What a nice surprise. Trails are dirt so wear appropriate shoes. Trail we took was along the river. Even tho it was cold the scenery was beautiful. Port a potty available. plenty of parking . Definitely will go back.