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 throughout the forest preserves in Cook County at various times from early April through early June. Look for spring beauty, blood root, Virginia bluebells, and […]
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, or in any hidden crevice with protection from the cold. Some frogs, like the Wood Frog, can even freeze solid in the winter and be […]
There are so many different ways you can enjoy being out in the forest preserves! Join us for a guided walk with Marianne Kozlowski, steward of the site. We'll learn about the spring ephemerals that call Eggers Grove home. The walk will be slow paced. This will be a bilingual walk, in English and Spanish. […]
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 wetlands that support rare plants and wildlife, including the only “calcareous seep” on the North Branch preserves. This seep environment is fed by cool groundwater […]
There are so many different ways you can enjoy being out in the forest preserves! Visit Whistler Woods with us as Donisha Reed, of Wealthy Living Coaching and Consulting, LLC, guides us in Slow Flow Vinyasa Yoga.* We will then take a short walk to observe the natural space around us. You won’t want to […]
This site protects a large area of one of the rarest plant communities in Illinois, known as a Northern Flatwoods. Flatwoods are found where a dense layer of clay lies near the surface of the soil. This clay prevents rain from draining in the spring, although flatwoods can become very dry in the summer. Plants […]
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. This is a there and back route, 2 miles one way and 2 the other. We'll start out on the green trail then go north […]
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 wetlands that support rare plants and wildlife, including the only “calcareous seep” on the North Branch preserves. This seep environment is fed by cool groundwater […]
