A kid's dream playground and totally worth the small entrance fee. This nature-themed play space…read moreis huge, creative, and packed with fun. Because it's so popular, they use timed entries to give more families a chance to enjoy it without crowding. It's located inside the Spring Valley Nature Center, so after playtime, you can wander the trails or explore more of the natural area. A great combo of fun + learning + nature. Perfect for an afternoon with littles

I get it... people do not want to pay to go to a public park, but then.... Maybe don't go? It's a…read morepark district park, so perhaps they need the money to help maintain the park or to help with crowd control. And I'm sure there are plenty of other parks in the area that do not charge. The place was pretty packed on a Sunday morning at 10:20am, but not in an annoying way. I thought the equipment was uniquely different from your standard playground. Lots of creative equipment for sensory play. I wasn't SUPER thrilled to see the gritty sand and water (am I just super OCD or are there actually parents out there that see that at a playground they drove to that says "oh yay! Water and messy sand!"). Oh and the death trap tight rope was also a "yikes" reaction, but my kids stayed away from it, so no biggie. It was fun. I wasn't bothered by the one hour time limit (although, I don't even know if they actually kick people out because we left a little after 11am and I didn't see them trying to clear the area). But.... It was hot and I was ready to leave the park and do not mind having the backing of being able to tell my kids that the park is closing to help get them to leave.

Busse Woods is amazing in so many ways. It's my summer's day getaway in my own backyard. My only…read morecomplaint is that they need to do a better job with the number and quality of the rest room facilities. All the preserves in the greater Chicago area are a treasure. Consider joining a volunteer restoration group in your area. The county websites will explain. It is fun, educational and you'll meet wonderfully friendly and knowledgeable folk. No experience needed. It's usually once a week for a few hours on the weekend. Come when your time and mood allows.

I've passed by Busse Woods a million times along Higgins Road but never pulled in to have a look…read morefor whatever reason.  Probably because I could always do it tomorrow or another day lol!  Well, today I did pull in because we had an extended family celebration event at one of their picnic groves, specifically Grove 5 which is located quite conveniently close to the intersection of Higgins and Arlington Heights Roads (as opposed to deeper into the Woods). I must say this place Busse Woods is large, sprawling, neat, clean, and impressive (it's 3558 acres in fact). I think I knew that it was sprawling driving along Higgins Rd, but pulling in, you can see how well laid out and maintained the premises are.  It would be quite nice to revisit during winter and the change of fall colors also. Grove 5 in particular is an extra nice picnic grove in that it has a shelter and is near (540' to be exact per the website!) a nice and accessible restroom building.  The shelter is pretty large with a capacity of 100 people.  It's located in a section called Busse Forest-South and which comprises Groves 5 - 16.  Of those 12 groves, 4 have shelters, but only Grove 5 is close to an accessible restroom.  So, our family member apparently picked out the best grove, good job!  Busse Woods has 11 sections like Busse Forest-South, so it's massive with a lot of picnic location and other leisure activity options.  Anyway, go to their website for more info, but I was pretty impressed.  Busse Woods includes a Busse Lake as well as a 7 mile trail.  Big thumbs up for this Cook County Forest Preserve!

I went to Kimball Hill Park with my mother to get some exercise on their walking path. If you…read morefollow the entire path you can get a good walk in. You can combine this walk with the walking path at the adjacent Florey Park for an even better walk. In the fall you can see the colors changing. With a walking path, baseball fields, a pond, tennis courts, and a playground, there is lots to see and do at Kimball Hill Park!

Amazing and picturesque park with waterfalls and geese, yet just another in the chain of parks…read morethroughout the aptly named Rolling Meadows town.

My wife and I power walk here regularly. The place is always neat and clean. The people there are…read morefriendly as well. It has clean public washrooms and a nice gazebo and memorial park area.

Very clean. Has a port-a-potty that is very clean and all of the grounds are well-kept. Playground…read moreand sand along with the splash pad.

The breezy little park is at the corners of Schaumburg Rd. and Roselle Rd. It serves as a…read morecornerstone memorial. There's nice benches to sit and relax as well as look at all the beautiful flowers and sculptured bushes. The park is a dedication to Veterans and includes all the armed forces flags and a memorial plaque.

Army had half-day, so I decided to spend the afternoon here…read more Okay, no. That's an Arrested Development thing. But with AD coming back so soon, it felt timely and relevant given this a park dedicated to Veterans. I actually came here because I was driving by last week and I spotted a little mouse run across the pavement as I was stopped at the light. I realized the chances of my seeing the little dude here again were slim to none, but I had some spare moments in my afternoon and plus this place had no business photos (which kills me) so I took the opportunity to take a look around. I've driven past here hundreds of time and I've never seen anyone in this park ever, which is strange because it's a really nice park. Large clock tower that dings on the hour, dedicated memorial bricks, the sturdiest benches I've ever sat/laid on, a small area on the North and West side that's grassy, there's flowers, and memorials, inspirational quotes, and small pillars with the seals of the different branches of military. Just a really nice quiet place. i spent some time by the Marine one and gave a nod for my Grandpa and then gave a nod to not only one of my favorite Yelper's Ted C, but also Buster Bluth for his many accolades including marksmanship and sand racing. I'm excited to have 'discovered' this little gem, although it's not very far off from a rather busy intersection, it's nice to know that most of the time, I can probably go and pretend it's my own private park, made just for me and that mouse... when I find him.

I love nature. Being outdoors makes me happy. Being outdoors at home is awesome. That said,…read morealthough I think I have a sweet patio set-up at my apartment (does anyone want to give me a hammock to make it even better?), it's incredibly tiny and faces the parking lot -- so there's not a lot of 'nature' in my 'backyard.' Because of this, I seek out nature centers, forest preserves, and farms quite often. I was excited to find this place not too far from where I live. It also has a couple geocaches (http://www.geocaching.com/) scattered about, so I was eager to bring my husband here a couple times. This little nature center is tucked away in a lovely Itasca neighborhood. There is a small parking lot, a barn-like building with an greenhouse/workshed (the actual center), a little shelter with picnic tables, a bridge leading to a couple paths around the grounds, and some prairie. Trees surround the grounds and a little creek runs through. It's cute. It's small. It isn't really much. The walking path is quick. From looking at maps, it seems the grounds are bigger with three different trails, but we only found one short, paved trail with a couple paths leading towards the aquatic center and neighborhood. Maybe we didn't look hard enough. At one point we thought we found more trails but ended up wandering through a private yard before realizing our mistake. Weird. I can't say much for what's inside the center. Both times I came (weekends, during hours), the building was closed. There were a couple cage areas outside for birds or other creatures, but I never saw any. In fact, I didn't see any animals here -- just the occasional dragonfly or bumblebee. Oh, and there were some lovely ducks on the little creek that runs through the property. Our visits were very short. And we picked up a geocache, which is always good. I like places with quiet areas or long walking paths or animals to look at. This place didn't really have any of those. It's a nice little addition to the neighborhood, and maybe a good place to take your kids for a bike ride, but just isn't for me.

I used to visit this nature center all the time when I lived in Elk Grove Village. It's small, but…read morevery cute. There's a turtle tank inside and birds of prey, like owls and kestrels, outside. There's a nice path where you'll come across deer, turtles, and frogs, not to mention the usual birds and squirrels. It's also a great place to see different insects like dragonflies. Oh and keep a look out for the box elders! One year they were carpeting the ground.

It's not the largest park the village has to offer, though it does boast the picturesque clocktower…read moreand fountains at the NW corner. Other than that, unless you're looking to fish or take the kids to the playground, you may be better served elsewhere. Towne park has a larger playground, Hill Climb Park is no slouch either, and has just as many, if not more display boards with historical information. But if you're walking around downtown and want to head towards the river, you can get here without having to wait at the light, like you would if you'd headed to Riverfront Park. This park, like Towne Park, does feature restrooms, which is not nothing.

I like it here. The…read morepark has a brand new (looking?) playground, a nice gazebo that I think you can reserve for special events, and a big sunken grassy field which we found perfect for soccer. Also you can walk through the park up to the edge of the Fox river and do some fishing if that's what you're in to. By they way, the bathrooms were probably the cleanest I've ever seen at a public park.

OMG a hidden and deserted gem hidden on the other side of the creek running through RM…read more Empty and setup for disc or Frisbee "golf" and the perfect football wildlife field to let my little fur nephew run free... So much so that the impossible happened... he ran out of Zoomies to give.

We looked at this park for accessibility for mobility challenged people. Know before you go! Here…read moreis what we found: - 2 handicap accessible parking spaces - No handicap accessible restrooms - Terrain is wood chips - Big field with sidewalks leading to skate park & tennis courts - No ramps to get into park - 2 accessible picnic tables Nice park!