This is a hidden gem for the city dwellers. Even though "Emily Oaks Nature Center" is surrounded…read moreby the residential area and one can hear the CTA trains passing back and forth, cloud and clear, it can still be considered as a mini "escape." In other words, it is a place to experience what mother nature has to offer, for both adults and kids. I would say the trail paths are kid-friendly and not too long for the little ones to explore. However, I think it is better to visit when daylight is available. Bike routes are separate from the walking path, so one doesn't have to watch out for bikers passing through. The Lakeview (or pond view) is serene. There are a few benches to sit down and enjoy the scenery. I see they have camp fires and other activities from time to time. I bet these are fun, as weather permits. In the beginning of the trail, a small scaled playground definitely can pull your kiddos away to release their energy. Parking is plenty and convenient. I think "Emily Oaks Nature Center" is going to be a re-visit for our family this summer.

If you can ignore the sounds of the Skokie Swift and passing traffic just outside the northern and…read morewestern boundaries of the nature preserve, Emily Oaks is a darling little slice of woods and lagoon tucked into a residential neighborhood of Skokie. They host camps here during the summer months, so you'll find chalk drawings on some of the paths and signs on some of the trees around that time, but it doesn't really detract from the atmosphere. (This is where my sibling and I learned to canoe and build campfires back in the day.) Chipmunks and geese abound; be sure to also check out the fish in the lagoon. They have shelters with picnic tables scattered throughout the preserve, so this is a peaceful place for a picnic lunch when camp's not in session. Just remember to leave the area as clean as you found it... and don't try starting any campfires without permission.

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.

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.

Easy parking in front of the museum. Light trail but doesn't go in a loop or you can but have to…read morecross the street and then walk on some unpaved brush. Or one can just back track.

This popular spot is usually a little busy for my tastes, but catch it at a quiet time and you can…read moreenjoy a placid hike down easy paths. There's a broad, charming bridge where kids (or adults) can throw sticks into the water on one side and watch them float to the other side. There are multiple dirt trails into the woods off the paved path that's frequently teeming with bicyclists. And there's a gravel path where people often walk dogs. Note that there are multiple entrances to Harms Woods. I like the northern one, but so do a lot of other people, apparently.

The Hernandez Picnic Grove is part of the Forest Preserve of Cook County system. This place is…read morepacked during the summer with people having their cookouts and parties. It's a large area with trails for walking and biking and Gompers Park is here too where there's a playground. (The two don't have a fence or anything separating from one another.) There's a large parking lot that can get quickly filled up, so Foster is a one-lane street oftentimes during the summer since folks park along Foster. The North Branch Trail System, which is 20 miles long, starts here and continues to Glencoe, where it ends at the Botanic Garden. I haven't biked much of the trail; only about two and a half miles from the trailhead here at Hernandez to Lechowitz Woods for a five mile round trip, but it was nice seeing part of the city from a different viewpoint. I'd love to ride along other parts of the trail and maybe someday make it the full twenty miles! Once upon a time after World War II, they had some pre-fab homes erected on this site for all the returning veterans to have their families. This caused some NIMBY issues around the neighborhood and the houses were in pretty poor condition since they weren't expected to be permanent, but they were gone within about a decade. I found that pretty interesting when I learned that tidbit.

Great place to park for a hike across the river. Hike across the park and you can access an old…read moretrain track then head into woods by river

This is a peaceful area close to the Morton Grove Metra Station. I've come here during lunch and…read moreI've seen deer here sometimes, but mostly it's just people in their cars. It's beautiful in the fall with the colorful leaves, but I've never ventured out into the woods. Stop here for a little forest bathing, there's plenty of room, and its so green.

Came here for a birthday party for my friends' son last summer. It's a great area, and they had…read morereserved a pavilion so we had a lot of space. The pavilions also seem to be spaced out enough that you're not right on top of another group. My one complaint was parking: there was a verrrrrry large group a few pavilions down, and because there was so many people their parking spilled into the space for our pavilion, so we had to park a ways down. I get that it's all open parking, so not really anyone's fault, but it was pretty hard to find parking. The pavilions are good size, and had plenty of table space and seating (plus room for some games). There was also plenty of 'lawn space' around for people that wanted to be out in the sun. Porta potties were the only bathrooms I saw, and depending on which pavilion you were at it could be bit of a hike to them. Overall, not a bad place to have a larger gathering.

Good people maintain this natural area. It has a pretty interesting history. Dunning Read is…read morelocated next to a mental hospital if you can believe it. Pretty crazy this is located in a fairly boring area with strip malls. The area has a few trails. An interesting history about it. It's a grassy area that's kept natural. This has many native plants and wildlife. Before this area was just pretty much nothing. The mental hospital opened up here and there was still this open space. Basically the Parks Department bought it. This has been restored to a natural area by bringing in native plants and letting these grow naturally with as little maintenance as possible. Check this out while around the Portage Park area. It's located near the intersection of Harlem and Irving Park. This is a good opportunity to get close to natural vegetation.

"For many generations of Chicago children, bad behavior came to a halt with a stern warning: "Be…read morecareful, or you're going to Dunning." The prospect sent shivers down the spines of youngsters, who regarded it as the most dreaded place imaginable." - Perry Duis, Challenging Chicago. The sprawling stretch of land north of Irving Park and west of Oak Park is one of the most storied, but presently forgotten, sites in Chicago. Opening in 1854 as a "poor farm," it initially served people who had fallen on hard times. By 1870 an Insane Department was added to the site- on the premise that keeping the mentally disturbed isolated and away from the city's stress would be beneficial. Over time, the site which also featured sprawling expanses of cemeteries for over 38,000 bodies, became chronically overcrowded. Patients were abused and neglected, their food full of weevils. "You could think of this place as the prototypical evil dark asylum of literature," Joseph J. Mehr notes in his book, "An Illustrated History of Illinois Public Mental Health Services." Today, the fringes of the site are covered by box stores and residential development. But the stretch by the northeast intersection of Irving Park and Oak Park is one of the most sublime and tranquil settings in Chicago, containing some ancient remnant wetlands. This place is so underutilized that you're just as likely to come across a zombie corpse as a member of the living. But I've seen a garter snake, heard tell of a coyote sighting, and once almost stepped on a possum. If you walk past the medical center to the south you can find an expanse of woodchip trails, mostly unmarked, which may mysteriously lead you *behind* a No Trespassing sign at the neighboring Streets and Sanitation complex. This park is neither part of the Park District nor the Forest Preserve. If you want to be a part of restoring the area, Friends of the Parks hosts volunteer days every Thursday and every Second Saturday from March through November.

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