Raceway Woods Forest Preserve — Attraction in Dundee Township

This was originally known as Meadowdale Raceway up until sometime in the early 70's?? This track used to draw big names & big name races as well! In fact, other than Sebring Florida, this is the only other track in the U.S. I believe that the feared Corvette Grand Sports ran in the mid 60's. Originally built as a Road Race Track, at some point they started doing Drag Racing there as well. I first saw it as early as '82 through the trees off of Rt. 31. A couple of years later being the nosy little twerp I was.. drove a friends Camaro back in there off of one of the back street behind the Mall & promptly got it stuck... and arrested...and a $450 tow. Now it's a Forest Preserve & from what I've seen over the last ten years or so it's been that way - they're trying to preserve it!! It was pretty bad back in the mid 90's - someone had gone back there & stripped off alaot of the asphalt there was no bridge across the ravine (which almost looks like it has been filled in a little), there were abandoned appliances & cars (some burned out) all over - generally not a good place to be. Now, it's a really nice place to walk, ride a bike... I have taken my daughters (when they were little), my...

Beautiful hike that’s literally shaped like a raceway from one of your favorite racing games. It’s cool to look back at the map and think Mario Cart or something like that. The first part of the walk is shaded along with some other parts throughout and there are a few hills at the beginning and middle of the trail. The complete trail is about 3.5 miles and can be done in an hour at a steady pace with family. There were some bikers on the trail but nothing ridiculous. There are some more paths in the middle of the woods in the center of the trail. And at the end of it or coming into the last mile and a half, you get to a little stretch that you can race remote cars on or do other fun stuff. It was lightly crowded on a Sunday and it was also Labor Day weekend so I can’t judge the other days. It’s a sweet hike to do with families. It’s kid friendly and is mostly...

Have lived near Raceway Woods for many years but never ventured there. My loss! What a gem! This is an awesome place to hike or mountain bike. I am heading to Colorado to hike in my favorite place - Rocky Mountain National Park over Labor Day and wanted to get some training in to prep for some really tough hikes I have planned. While this place is but a pimple compared to RMNP, the elevation changes and distance did prove challenging enough to get the heart rate up and work up a good sweat. Plus being an avid racing enthusiast, the fact that this place was an actual auto race track in the 50's and 60's made the hike that much more interesting. I highly recommend this place if you just need a short getaway and some decent hiking nearby. Ill be back to check out all of it's hidden...