Cancel

    Open app

    Search

    Swallow Cliff Woods

    4.7 (123 reviews)
    Closed 6:00 am - 8:00 pm

    Swallow Cliff Woods Photos

    You might also consider

    Recommended Reviews - Swallow Cliff Woods

    Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
    Yelp app icon
    Browse more easily on the app
    Review Feed Illustration

    Reviews With Photos

    Teresa H.

    Heard about this place for years and finally went! A great way to build up endurance. Planning for the manitou incline in Colorado next month. Did five flights the first week then ten the next. There's two sets of stairs and has a bead counter on top if you want to use. Plenty of walking and biking trails near by.

    Ashley C.

    When I say these stairs are the TRUTH, I mean it. I was only able to make it around 3 times, but I'm still feeling the experience days later.

    Alma P.

    With my friend!! I got to stay at my friends house and she took me to this beautiful place. We walked 4 miles enjoying the beautiful nature. Everything so green and beautiful. I loved it. It was not too muddy and not to dry as it rains randomly. The trees are shading the whole trail. I felt recharged and refreshed after the walk. It is a very pleasant visit. The trails are very easy to walk it is just flat with hardly any hills. Definitely a place to go often if you can. I saw different people from different ages. I could see they walking and walking the long stairs more than once. I was very shocked because I got tired with going up one time. I need to get in shape and be ready when and if I go back. Thank you to my friend that took me to this beautiful nature.

    Lisa P.

    Had thirty minutes to kill while waiting to pick up an item for my husband. I decided it's the perfect opportunity for a nice walk. The weather was beautiful; mid seventies, with a sunny sky and a good breeze. The sounds of nature was the only music needed. Birds chirping, bugs buzzing and whizzing, leaves rustling and the rocks cracking under my feet. Power walked down the trail and took a nice stroll back to my car. Just what the body and mind needed.

    Top of the stairs
    Betty W.

    Coming here never gets old. A great way to spend time in the outdoors walking the nature trails or exercising on the stairs. There's bathrooms, water fountains & a little smoothie shop located at the bottom of the stairs (the shop is not always open). The whole place is well maintained with a large parking lot too. My favorite thing is to workout and watch the sun fully rise!

    Kat T.

    I haven't visited this park in over five years. We hiked for two hours. My friend Andrea led the hike. It was very peaceful and clean. They even have a black- owned smoothie bar at the entrance of the stairs. I will definitely visit again.

    Jay B.

    Swallow Cliffs has an enjoyable walking trail with a significant number of steps that can pose a challenge for some. Once you reach the top, the trail continues with some terrain, so wear comfortable shoes, and enjoy the hike. There is a smoothie shop conveniently located in the lower area near the parking lot, which is a plus after all the walking.

    Stairs
    Joneice B.

    First hike in this area. Recently joined a group that likes to do outdoors event. They picked this area for our monthly event and it was perfect. In addition to great pathways...there are stairs, and rentable Pavillion. Plenty of parking and easy to find. Will be back to hit the stairs again.

    Maronda H.

    Amazing outdoor workout. I love coming here. I convince my two friends to join me for an outdoor adventure. We enjoyed being out in nature and walking the stairs. We walked along the trails which was nice. We met some very nice people along the trails. Everyone seemed so friendly. As your walking please be careful to watch where your going. A lot of horse poop on the road. We even saw Bambi (A baby deer) who popped out. Enjoyable place to come and exercise. Beautiful Scenery

    Araceli C.

    I back here afther 2 years hick hick almost all people wear mask and we keep the area clean

    Heading upward for the 1st time! So exciting, not too crowded!
    Wendy D.

    Absolutely loved my 1st time here!! Nature meets outdoor healthy mind & body walking & stair climbing. Plenty of parking, excellent for you! Highly recommend!!

    Completely packed parking lot

    See all

    Photo of Katie N.
    1577
    1940
    1597

    2 months ago

    Helpful 7
    Thanks 3
    Love this 5
    Oh no 0

    22 days ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    6 months ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 2
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 21
    Thanks 6
    Love this 18
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 6
    Thanks 1
    Love this 7
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 1
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Wanna work of some of those places you reviewed?? Here's the place! Always meeting some friendly people when I go!

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    8 months ago

    Trail heads have plenty of parking. It is mostly wooded and the Paths were well marked and clear. We will return.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    Helpful 9
    Thanks 1
    Love this 10
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Maronda H.
    111
    1146
    14022

    6 years ago

    Helpful 5
    Thanks 0
    Love this 4
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Araceli C.
    2
    706
    9904

    6 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Wendy D.
    140
    13
    12

    4 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 1
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    9 years ago

    Helpful 6
    Thanks 0
    Love this 5
    Oh no 0
    Photo of JP H.
    53
    1211
    24

    4 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    13 years ago

    Helpful 10
    Thanks 1
    Love this 11
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Julie O.
    320
    1078
    2589

    14 years ago

    Helpful 10
    Thanks 0
    Love this 5
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Nice place well maintained and clean. Great for exercise or leisure walking with children.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    8 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    9 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Tavi J.
    563
    899
    2214

    9 years ago

    Helpful 3
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    Love these woods trails and stairs. Wonderful way to connect with nature. Go the all the time

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    7 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    10 years ago

    Helpful 8
    Thanks 0
    Love this 7
    Oh no 0

    9 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    14 years ago

    Helpful 6
    Thanks 0
    Love this 6
    Oh no 0

    13 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0

    12 years ago

    Helpful 4
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0
    Photo of L W.
    63
    55
    31

    7 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    11 years ago

    Helpful 3
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0

    10 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    6 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    12 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0

    11 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0

    Page 1 of 4

    Ask the Community - Swallow Cliff Woods

    What street would I need to come up to enter where the fishing pond parking lot is?

    Do you mean Horsetail Lake? The parking lot entrance is off 104th Avenue just north of 123rd Street/McCarthy Road.

    Can we currently sled on the former tobaggan hill?

    Varíes. You'll have to call to find out!

    How many stairs are there? How much elevation gain is it? And what is the total distance from bottom to top?

    On the right side, it is 126 steps. On the left, it is 171 +/- 3

    Does anyone know if it's opened during this time?

    Yes! Sunrise to sunset

    What are the best days to visit Swallow Cliff Woods?

    Any day, really. It's more crowded in the late morning and weekends.

    Is the park dog friendly? I leave her home all day because of work, and want to take her for walks around parks, not just in my neighborhood. I really think she would enjoy the stairs and time with her Momma.

    Cook county forest preserve requires all dogs must be leashed. The trails are great for dogs! So… Read more

    Don’t See Your Question? Ask Away!

    Review Highlights - Swallow Cliff Woods

    Really nice preserve and nice to get away from civilization and in to nature for a while.

    Mentioned in 8 reviews

    Read more highlights

    You might also consider

    Verify this business for free

    People searched for Hiking 1,908 times last month within 15 miles of this business.

    Verify this business

    Sag Valley Trail System and Forest Preserve

    Sag Valley Trail System and Forest Preserve

    4.3
    (12 reviews)
    1.9 mi

    This gem is about 45-50 minutes outside of the city (depending on traffic and where you're…read morelocated). The stairs are a great workout! I wish more places had something similar! Bring a water bottle! I saw only 1 fountain (old rusty manual hand-pump one) that was about a 10 minute walk on the yellow trail by the stairs. Not even sure if it works! There are a lot of trees (which is surprising since most trails I've been to in the Chicagoland area is pretty sparse)! Watch out for horse poop! Apparently, these trails are shared with bikers, pedestrians, and equestrians!

    Can I get a w00t w00t for Forest Preserves?! The Sag Valley Trail System in Palos Park is a great…read moresystem of forest preserves that one can use for hiking, biking, running, horse riding, and of course throwing a stone soul picnic. We decided to grab our mountain bikes for some early spring trail riding. Plenty of people out and about enjoying the trails, and even an equestrian or two. (Watch out for road apples!) The trails are clearly marked but do yourself a favor and print out a color copy of the trail map or you might take a wrong turn at Albuquerque and wind up doing a loop twice. Trails were well-groomed albeit somewhat muddy in spring, there is definitely some degree of difficulty of steep uphill and fast downhill riding, so be prepared to get a workout. There's an old toboggan slide that we decided to carry our bikes up to shorten our ride. This hill makes Rocky's jog up the Philadelphia Institute of Art stairs seem like child's play! And there was a high school wrestling team taking advantage of it for workouts. It's a Vision Quest! I can't wait to do this again in summer when there is full greenery. This is an incredibly peaceful Oak Savannah, with many oaks and the occasional fir, and we had four deer run across the trail 20 yards ahead of us at one point. The Sag Valley Trail System in Palos Park is only a 45-minute drive from the city center, so rack up those bikes and surrey down! You won't regret it!

    Photos
    October 2012
    October 2012
    Sag Valley Trail System and Forest Preserve
    September 2012

    See all

    September 2012
    Palos Forest Preserves

    Palos Forest Preserves

    4.2
    (13 reviews)
    3.5 mi

    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.

    Photos
    Maple lake
    Maple lake
    Palos Forest Preserves
    Mushroom

    See all

    Mushroom
    Tampier Lake Greenway Cook County Forest Preserve

    Tampier Lake Greenway Cook County Forest Preserve

    3.0
    (4 reviews)
    2.8 mi

    If your going there to fish it's fair just stick to shore fishing as the boat rentals aren't worth…read moreit and it's just better from the shore in my opinion, best time to go is during the week as weekends tend to get pretty crowded but overall it's a nice place to go fish and relax

    This was a very nice little park, if one that has few amenities to offer the visitor. There is a…read morevery nice covered shelter that one can use for parties or picnics or family get-togethers, but remember that you must reserve the space with the Cook County Forest Preserve peeps. Don't just show up and assume it's first-come-first-served ... it isn't. It is a reserved space. There is enough room to play catch and maybe hit the ball around, but essentially you have to bring in to the park any amusement you seek - they really don't offer any extras. One day, maybe the Cook County Forest Preserve chiefs will cut a few walking/jogging/hiking trails through the area - that would be a nice and easy-to-add extra. This little preserve is a stand-alone operation with a parking lot. If you are looking for Tampier Lake - it is about a block away across the street ... that is where you get boats and the like. There is none of that here. But with all that said, this was a nice little hideaway. Try it.

    Photos
    Lots of wild prairie grasses and marsh plants grow around the road and picnic areas.
    Lots of wild prairie grasses and marsh plants grow around the road and picnic areas.
    A long well paved road keeps you far enough from the main road to reduce traffic noise.
    A long well paved road keeps you far enough from the main road to reduce traffic noise.
    Plenty of open space with cut grass next to the picnic shelter to allow lots of playing space for the kids.

    See all

    Plenty of open space with cut grass next to the picnic shelter to allow lots of playing space for the kids.
    Sagawau Environmental Learning Center

    Sagawau Environmental Learning Center

    4.6
    (15 reviews)
    3.9 mi

    Cool spot that I didn't realize was in the area. Looking for a good meeting spot to meet friends…read morefor a walk, found Sagawau. On the day of my visit, we saw this black netting/screen. Curious, we stopped to ask staff. It turns out on Sundays they do bird banding. This was very interesting how they catch birds, take data, and release back into the wild. I recommend! The nature center was well kept and had clean bathrooms. They close the area at 4 pm daily. Check it out for a nice walking and educational opportunity.

    Sagawau is waaaaaay out in Lemont, so pretty far from me, and it's also bit confusing to find when…read moreyou get there. But I really enjoyed it so I'd say it's worth it, and now I'll know where I'm going in future! Word to the wise: There's the large parking lot, and what looks like a driveway is not. Park in the lot and use the wide paved path to get to the nature center. The purpose of the first preserve system was to both preserve and conserve, but also to provide natural areas in which people could recreate. They also have a nature center here with exhibits, as well as a variety of programming. I came for a program. A land acknowledgement was provided to connect the land to its history, and the people who once called this land home. I came for a hummingbird program, which took place in the hummingbird garden. The garden had quite a few bees and some wasps, but those insects are actually invasive in this area so you may see traps out for them so they don't take over the hummingbird garden. There are hummingbird feeders around to bring the hummers out. But nectar isn't their only source of food; they'll eat insects and invertebrates. Most importantly, they need pesticide-free habitats to survive. It was interesting to learn that hummingbirds live only in North, Central, and South America. When colonizers came into contact with hummingbirds, they thought they had no feet and that is where their scientific name is derived. Hummingbirds are surprisingly loud! The ruby-throated hummingbird is only ruby throated for the males. Juveniles and females have a white throat. But the color only comes out with the light, as it's iridescent, so the males may look black. Ruby throated is the only native one in Illinois. The juveniles are about the weight of a penny. In migratory season, they try to double their weight in order to sustain their migratory most fly over the Gulf of Mexico, which is a single flight of about 600 miles. They can do that flight in 16-24 hours. Hummingbirds fly with a figure eight pattern, which allows them to be one of the few birds that can fly backwards. It also allows them to hover! Migration is hard, so why do they do it? At least in part, it's because there's less competition. Apparently day length is a trigger to let birds know when to begin migrating, and the plants and flower on which they rely for food usually coincides to their migratory season. The nesting behavior of hummingbirds draws a direct line between environmental stewardship and habitat protection. They line the nest's outside with lichen and plant scale, and line them inside with soft things like dandelion fronds. Air pollution won't affect the hummingbird directly, but it will affect lichen and thus the integrity of their nest and subsequently their success in breeding. They will use spider webbing to bind their nest, which makes spider conservation important too. How fascinating how these things all connect! Whilst visiting Sagawau, I learned that this preserve is a licensed bird banding station--not just for hummingbirds. Banding allows us to gather much of the information that we have about birds in general. The information gleaned from banded birds can tell us about their migratory patterns, lifespan, and so on. I believe they have some events during the year where you can observe this process. In addition to their great programs, they have a nature center with exhibits related to the natural history of Sagawau and the region. One of the things that makes Sagawau so unique is it is a dolomite prairie, of which only about 500 acres exist in the world--over 100 of those acres being here. There are several trails to walk, and they have maps showing these to help guide your way. And this site turns into a cross-country ski location in the winter! In that season, walking is not permitted on the trails because they're used for skiers. They have lessons and equipment rental, but you can also bring your own gear--you just need to call first to make sure it's open for skiing, dependent upon the snowfall. I saw more open acknowledgment of snakes here than at some of the other preserves, which may make me nervous to visit very soon--snakes in just about any capacity (cartoon, real, image, etc.) creep me out more than anything. But, Negin is the employee that led the hummingbird chat, and she was really great. Welcoming, inclusive, knowledgeable, and friendly. I'd love to attend more of her programs.

    Photos
    Sagawau Environmental Learning Center
    Sagawau Environmental Learning Center
    Sagawau Environmental Learning Center

    See all

    Swallow Cliff Woods - hiking - Updated June 2026

    Loading...
    Loading...
    Loading...