Spring Ephemerals

Spring ephemerals are wildflowers that appear for only a few weeks each year, so you need to be alert if you're going to sneak a peek. You can find them […]

Amphibian breeding

By May, most amphibian species in Cook County have begun breeding. Throughout the forest preserves and beyond, toads, frogs, and salamanders spend the winter hiding under logs, in rotten wood, […]

Trailblazers Walk: Beck Lake

Join us as we walk the segment of the Des Plaines River trail between Central and Euclid! This stretch is from Beck Lake to Camp Pine Forest in Des Plaines. […]

Canceled Watersmeet Woods Volunteer Workday

The Skokie River and Middle Fork of the Chicago River come together to give Watersmeet Woods its name. But Watersmeet is also a wet place with numerous special types of […]

Trailblazers Walk: Swallow Cliff Woods

The Yellow Trail - the trail we will be primarily walking - was rated the best trail in Illinois by Backpacker Magazine. The trails are in great shape and currently […]

Trailblazers Walk: Red Gate Woods

Discover the history behind the first nuclear reactor in the world. We will cover the atomic age during WWII, the impact on the Forest Preserve Site M, and the closure, […]

Friends Golf Outing

George W. Dunne National Golf Course

Registration is open! Tickets start at $150 individual / $600 foursome We offer various ticket levels so that you can show some extra love for Friends and our work - […]

Blue Star Woods Volunteer Workday

Help restore habitat for plants and wildlife at this historic forest preserve. Blue Star Woods was once the site of a Civilian Conservation Corps Camp and a WWII Prisoner of […]

Trailblazers Walk: Watersmeet Woods

Please join us as we look for birds and odonates a.k.a. dragonflies and damselflies. Let’s see how many species we can find! Difficulty level: intermediate-advanced hikers. Watersmeet Woods has few, […]

Stop and Smell the Milkweed

You've probably heard the saying "stop and smell the roses," but what about the milkweed? Common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) begins blooming in June and hits its peak in July. Their […]