Churchill Woods — Attraction in Lombard

This forest preserve used to be beautiful, now its an over-grown mess. My daughter and I tried to kayak through there because I wanted to show her this beautiful forest preserve where her dad proposed to me and instead was very disappointed in what I was actually showing her. The entire stream's banks used to be covered in these big gorgeous flat rocks, but now you can't even see the rocks because it's so overgrown with weeds. They put in a nice iron bridge instead of the walkway. The entire stream is about a foot deep and very mossy. I was extremely saddened by what used to be a beautiful retreat and now is a true...

This preserve has the East Branch Dupage River flowing through it. There are restrooms, picnic benches as well as a shelter you can book. The tall old trees turn the most pretty colors in fall. The trail next to the river is quite short and good for children. There are birds everywhere as well as herons, egrets, turtles, chipmunks, ducks and you can even see the fishes swimming from the banks. The access to the other side of the preserve is from the end of the shelter parking lot. You park your car here and walk through a tunnel, pass the forest preserve offices and the trail for the natural area is...

This is one of my favorite forest preserves to hike and bike through. There are two sides of it connected by a tunnel that goes under St. Charles road. The north side has a trail that winds through a bunch of tall trees with a view of a prairie on one side of the trail, and a great view at the top of the hill on Swift road. You can easily connect to the Great Western Trail from here. On the south side, there's the river with a bridge over it and more great wildlife views. I often see deer here, especially in the colder months, which is awesome. Just be sure to keep your distance and be respectful...