Vera Meineke Nature Center at Spring Valley — Attraction in Schaumburg Township

Spring Valley Nature Center is one of the hidden jewels of the Chicago area. Spring Valley is located in Schaumburg, about 10 minutes from Woodfield Mall. Spring Valley is another place which is explicitly made for the education and enjoyment of children. There are several areas at Spring Valley. My wife, my son and I were able to visit three, Bison Bluff, the log cabin and the farm. Each area is a short walk from the others. There are paths with learning and interesting facts which make the short walk interesting and fun. A suggestion, plan to be at the park when Spring Valley opens, because, in order to fully experience everything, you will need the entire day, from open to close, without rushing through and allowing your children to have a memorable fun learning experience.

Bison Bluff is located just inside the entrance. In Bison Bluff, when children aren't climbing or sliding down a slide, there are areas of fun learning, like a xylophone, or, tubular bells. There is so much to do, play with and learn from at Bison Bluff alone, children can spend hours, if not the entire day, without being bored or losing interest.

The log cabin is located up a nature trail from Bison Bluff. Along the way are nature learning facts about land, plants, foliage and animals. There is a pond right next to the log cabin and if I am not mistaken, children are welcome to go in to look for frogs, turtles and tadpoles, ( all of which have to be returned to their habitat or pond and can not be kept ).

The farm is a short walk up another nature trail. The farm is an actual working farm which has been kept to era of early settlement days of Schaumburg. Not only does the farm show farm life in early settlement, but, also reflects Ahmish life very closely. The "farm family", are dressed to era and are able to educate and explain in detail each aspect of the farm. The pig barn currently houses 3 or 4 small pigs. The chicken coop houses several chickens, however, the chickens do have a pen and are not free range. The main barn houses 4 Jersey cows, all of which still give milk. 3 of the 4 cows recently gave birth to calves. One Jersey is due near the first week of June. The barn also houses two Belgum Draft Horses. Both horses; Bob and Dick, are taken out daily and hooked up to a wagon to demonstrate daily work and hay rides. The farm also has a complete tack house with a cellar which is used for maintaining canning goods, wine and cider. The cellar also offers protection from heavy storms. The farm house us as basic as you can imagine it would be, including, grandma and grandpa's house. Even era toys are educational. My son was given the opportunity to try a toy of a monkey climbing, a fun way of learning how to milk a cow.

Spring Valley is a great place for learning and fun. However, you should be prepared to spend a lot at Spring Valley. A place like Spring Valley Nature Center is not cheap. You will definitely spend a lot of time here and it may cost you a day, but, it is well spent. There is no entrance fee and the parking is free as well. I think there is a gift store, but, it was closed at the time we made it to the farm.

After you finish at Spring Valley, Woodfield Mall is about 10 minutes away and you can spend the money you saved on fees and parking for a great dinner at Rain...

Be very careful coming to this place! The employees are riding their gas buggies (when they could easily walk if they care so much about nature) and operating gas lawnmowers and equipment. Yet, they decided to protect nature by prohibiting any kids' RC toys, balls, pets etc. Is it so bad for the nature, or distracts someone on the trails at 1pm business day? Basically, you can come, and some EMPLOYEE will sh!t his pants to stop you and tell you that you are prohibited from being there because they are the ones who decide! These are the weirdest rules/employees I've ever seen, and it seems the EMPLOYEES can do whatever they want except fulfill their responsibility to be nice to visitors. There's already few reviews about rude employees, and probably the management need to start paying some attention! If the management/employees hate kids so much, as a next step you can probibit throwing a sticks/stones to the water, yelling, crying, playing, running etc, so the nature will be safe...from the kids Note: the valounteers I was meet there for the past 7 years was always nice and very friendly people!

Upd: the rules the employee was REQUESTING us to obey was not publically posted anywhere, and at this moment the rules on your web site are different from ones on the entrance boards. Does it mean any employee can request me to do anything he want? Teach your employees what to talk and how to talk to...

Love this nature center. Interactive nature center with reading materials and various learning experiences near the North entrance. The Western entrance is only a short walk from the Heritage Farm part, lots of barnyard animals and late 1800’s life experience to be learned about. From both entrances you can walk to the center of the preserve and find Merkle cabin and a large pond. Plenty of wildlife to see if you take the time to look, the last two times we’ve been there we’ve seen multiple deer. If you know where to look it’s easy to find geese, beaver, and frogs. There are all kinds of other critters a scurry and birds to see if you take the time to slow down and really look around. There are lots of seasonal events to look into, they have the details posted on their website and on bulletin boards and both entrances. The North entrance is also close to a great park called Bisons Bluff, it’s the best adventure playground for children in the area, hands down. Bring a change of clothes, kids are bound to get wet or dirty with natural water and sand features. Oh, I almost forgot, just outside the nature center there’s a silo with a viewing deck that gives a great look around the area. During the summer bring the hug spray, especially if you go on the Southern half of the preserve, there can be a lot...