McDowell Grove Forest Preserve — Attraction in Warrenville

For several years, I have been doing early morning jogs through McDowell making a large collection of scenic, floral, and wildlife photography. I even wrote a photo-documentary book, "Jogging McDowell: Discovering Chicagoland Wilderness", consisting of the photography I have done during my numerous journeys. I am still updating this book as I make more discoveries and collect more photos. When I first moved to Naperville, in November 1999, I had just completed an entire decade, working summer seasons, from late April or Early May to late September or Early October, in Montana's Glacier National Park. I have seen and photographed countless flora and fauna which includes grizzly bears, bighorn sheep, moose, elk, bald eagles, Jones Columbine, fairy slippers, and aspen groves, maples, and other trees in bright autumn colors. I have also done scenic, floral, and wildlife photography from Alaska to Florida, Virginia to Mexico. But when I first came to McDowell Woods, on a hike with my sister, I quickly discovered there was more to Chicagoland than skyscrapers, freeways, and suburbs. Together we came upon a group of white-tailed deer which included an eight-point buck and, since then, McDowell has been to me almost as much as Yosemite has been to John Muir. My best shots of white-tailed deer; including a doe and two spotted fawns, a mature 8-point buck, with antlers out of velvet, crossing the Regional Trail(I named him Abraham after our 16th president), and three does, on the Regional Trail, by Mud Lake, on Christmas morning 2015; were all taken in McDowell. More recently, I have photographed a bald eagle(11/3/2019) just downstream from Deul Road, and within the last month, a pair of mute swans luminated by the rising sun, and deer; combined with morning mist, at first light, on the central savanna, on Memorial Day Weekend. I have also seen, and photographed coyotes, raccoons,snapping turtles, opossum(North America's only marsupial), osprey, red-tailed hawks, great horned owls, blue-birds, skunks, brilliant autumn colors(especially on oaks and maples), and an assortment of wildflowers including Dutchman's Breeches, wild prairie rose with honeybees on them, butterfly weed, and wild bergamot at sunrise with the sun rising behind the blossoms. I have jogged through McDowell in all kinds of weather, where I photographed scenes in mist and snow, and during all four seasons of the year. In McDowell, I have also seen the blossoms of dog-tooth violet, a flower I had, previously, only seen in the northern Rockies, where it is called the glacier lily. Fortunately, I only live a half-mile south of McDowell, and have been living there since June 2001. My only disappointment is that the Forest Preserve District has, so far, not seen fit to publish any of my photos in their ads and brochures. Nevertheless I am honored they added some of my best photos to their...

Love this Preserve for both its scenic beauty and it's rich history. First the scenic, the recent river restoration has created a gorgeous wetland habitat along the river directly in front of the shelter perfect for watching aquatic birds. The trails take you through woodlands as well as some nice prairies.

Now for the history nerds like me. This forest preserve once housed a Civilian Conservation Corps camp, with barracks and camp buildings located in the large semi-open area south of the river and east of the parking area. The workers here did projects at several preserves. Here at McDowell they built a dam, several bridges, campfires, trails and more. During World War I I the camp was used by the Signal Corps for training students from several Chicago colleges in radar technology. This radar school has been mentioned in several sources as top secret and much bigger than it really was. Students were still civilians and part of a college program, but did enlist after their training.

What was secret was after the radar school closed Camp McDowell was a communications school for the Office of Strategic Services. Research into this aspect of the preserve's history has only taken place in the past few years.

Apart from the shelter, not many remnants of the history remain except for some old Bridge abutments and remnants of campfires in the abandoned picnic grove south of the shelter. The dam was removed as part of river restoration but remnants of it...

While searching for a new hiking spot for our family including our dog, we found McDowell Grove Forest Preserve— a wonderful place to visit for those who love hiking, biking, fishing, picnicking, or being in a peaceful, foliage-rich forest preserve.

Beautiful trails, some paved and others unpaved, be sure to carry a mosquito spray/repellent for the unpaved trails especially if accompanying kids.

Our dog who loves to hike with us didn't want to go back just like us. The place is super tranquil, you can hear birds chirping around, and if you are super lucky, you can encounter families of deer as well.

Restrooms at the location, right when you enter, plus a great spot for fishing. Plenty of parking. Picnic benches installed at various locations (covered/uncovered). #dogfriendly...