A must visit for wonderful bird watching. Bring binoculars! Parking lot off of northwest highway &…read morehillside ave to see the heron rookery and the Dundee entrance for osprey nest & grass walking trails.

I came here to see the osprey…read more Baker's Lake is west of Route 14. There is an entrance on the north off of Hillside and an entrance on the south off of Dundee. I used the entrance on the south as this is where to post is located with the osprey. This area is literally a road with a few parking spots at the end of it. There are no identifiable paths or walkways. There is a break in the tall grass on the east side of where you can park. This rounds around the right and brings you back directly to where the perch is located. The osprey was there when I visited but he didn't do much. Not sure if it was because it was drizzling, he was tired, or he didn't like my presence. Either way it was still pretty cool. The north end probably has a better view of the lake and the "bird island" that this lake holds. It is a truly phenomenal sight. If you like birds, Baker's lake is home to thousands of water friendly birds.

Beautiful park that offers a little something for everyone! If you're up for a walk there is a nice…read morepath that follows the perimeter of the park, and if you want a further distance the path links up to Cuba Marsh. The playground and treehouse are a lot of fun for kids, and there is also and area with tennis courts. There are flush toilets connected to a space that can be rented out, and there is also a stage for various events. Gorgeous scenery in a well-maintained park.

Lovely grounds for a stroll on a nice day. It's very close to the downtown Barrington area. The…read moresetting is very calm--perfect place to bird-watch, read a book, or just relax.

I love this park because it's an all in one! There's a decent sized splash pad, a park, a ninja…read morecourse, baseball field, and there's a trail around the pond. There's also a bathroom. You do have to get there early if you want some shade and a place to sit. It's a park that rarely is empty especially in the summer time! I like that if you have kids in different age groups, there's something for everyone! Also like that it's not run down and it's clean!

Broad experiences. Astro turf!! Clean restrooms and friendly participants in the park experience!!…read more Highly recommend, mostly, safe!!

Great place for soccer fields and it's beautiful. Unfortunately, the teams and people that use the…read moresoccer fields often abuse it by leaving empty water bottles and their trash behind. Coaches should not let players leave the field until they remove their trash. I wish I could insert a photo I took this morning!

As of Aug 2013, I guess this place is super new as Google mapping it or TomToming it (yes, I'm…read morecreating my own verbs) was an extremely frustrating experience as none of these yielded the correct place. They kept directing us to the Barrington Club Park which is a few miles away. Anywho, once you find it, it is an awesome park. It has 140+ parking spaces and the area is huge. Perhaps its new, so thats why its awesome, but the grass was lush and green. They have soccer fields, tennis courts, basketball courts, volleyball sand courts, a giant shelter to host BBQs, bocci ball courts, and nice clean bathrooms. Since the park is new, the trees were still somewhat small, so there wasn't a whole lot of shade besides the shelter they have there. The shelter can probably house at least 50 people easily with nice and clean tables. I'm writing this with a sunburnt forehead and upper shoulders. I usually don't get burnt but apparently I should have put on sunscreen. Definitely check this place out if you're looking for a park to relax and play around and/or to host a nice sized BBQ. BATHROOM REVIEW: The bathrooms are located right next to the shelter. Inside, you will see a couple of urinals and a nice sturdy stall. The inside of the bathroom was rather dim, but maybe its because it was so darn sunny outside. Anywho, they didn't have paper towels but a nice hand dryer. For now, there were no mosquitos and it was super clean. The stall looked very sturdy. Sit or squat? I'd sit after a long day of playing. Aint nobody got time to squat

Lagendorf park is a nice, clean facility that is heavily frequented by residents. The building is…read moreextremely relevant to the community, as the Barrington Area Job Fair is held there. To me, the best part about the facility is the historic significance of the location--where the Battle of Barrington took place. The Battle of Barrington was an intense and deadly gunfight between federal agents and notorious Great Depression Era gangster, Baby Face Nelson, that took place on November 27, 1934 in the town of Barrington, outside Chicago, Illinois. Very cool if you are a history buff like myself.

I lived in Barrington years ago, when my son was in grade school & middle school…read more At that time, and still to this day, Langendorf Park was *the* park in Barrington Village. It's huge, and has everything you ever wanted in life, including an aquatic center and even a golf course. I feel a story coming on....... So I had an art gallery just a few blocks from the park, at Hough St. & NW Hwy.. My son would often come to the gallery after school to do homework, or just to check in with me. One day he rode his bike to the gallery, with his friend Gerry. The gallery was set back off the street, separated from the road by a parking lot. The sidewalk in front of the gallery did not get a lot of foot traffic. My gallery had two huge windows, right on the sidewalk in front. I sold a ton of artwork just by displaying it in those big windows facing the busiest intersection in town. When the stop light was red, I had a captive audience, haha..... My son and his friend parked their bikes in front of one of the big windows. This town was so safe it was like Mayberry, and there was no reason at all to wheel the bikes inside, so we thought. We could even see them clearly from inside. So I clearly saw when two big "kids", probably pushing 20 years old, jumped on those bikes and took off. By the time we all ran to the front door, the thieves were already a block away. My son had waited a long time for his new bike, a gift from his dad. That bike was his transportation around town, and would you believe I still have it, and sometimes I ride it. As I saw those 2 men ride off on the kids' bikes, my heart sank. I figured it was a done deal, a lost cause. The boys ran in the direction the bikes had been headed, but I still had little hope. The surrounding business people began to come outside, aware of what had happened, but helpless to do anything. Until.......like a character from an action movie, a blonde woman appeared out of nowhere. She ran after the thieves, so fast that I didn't recognize her as my boyfriend's sister, Denise, who worked in the drugstore a couple doors down from the gallery. Denise, the track star. Denise, the marathon runner. Denise.....the savior of the day. She ran like a bat outta hell, like she'd been shot from a cannon, across busy parking lots, down the highway toward Langendorf Park. She caught a glimpse of the thieves entering the park. I had called the police by now, and they were on the way. And my son and Gerry, and me and my employees, and half the shopkeepers in the plaza, were in hot foot pursuit of Denise and the bicycle thieves. If only I had a video of all those people running down Northwest Highway in this sleepy, boring community where nothing ever happened......haha.... You can already guess that Denise caught up with the thieves, in fact just in the nick of time..... just as they were struggling to hoist the bikes over a back fence in Langendorf Park. They ended up abandoning the bicycles and taking off on foot, through the park, with the mob chasing them. The cops caught them. There were charges filed, and eventually a court date. My son had to take off school to go to court and testify. The thieves, who turned out to be like 19 years old, claimed it was all a prank, all in fun (although they were strangers to us)......and the judge let them off. Boooooooooo.......... But at least the bikes were safe. I'm glad for that tall fence at the back of the park. I'm also glad for all the hot summer afternoons when the pool was a godsend. Somebody in Barrington please post pics of this great park, wouldja?!

This is a hidden little gem right near downtown Lake Zurich that many locals don't even seem to…read moreknow about. The entrance is tucked between two residential homes, and it boarders the private LZ Golf Course on another side. Growing up in Lake Zurich I remember learning that the Kuechmann family donated the property to the village and I can remember a house standing on the property when I visited. When the vegetation isn't overgrown in winter, you can still see where the house was further back in the arboretum. More recently, the wonderful Ancient Oaks Foundation has taken over care of the property and have done an outstanding job make this a neat spot to visit. The arboretum walking path is a mulched trail. It's a fairly short little loop, perfect for taking young ones on a manageable walk. I am lucky enough to live close enough that I run through frequently in the morning and I have often seen deer and on one occasion a red tailed fox! The Ancient Oaks Foundation recently installed a wonderful natural play scape for kids. It's a great area to bring kids to enjoy being in nature.

What a little hidden gem!!!! I was in the area and stumbled upon it and am so happy I did! My…read moretoddler had a lot of fun exploring the nature set ups, swing, campfire area and the boat. We will definitely be back!

Such an amazing trail to walk, run, and bike!! I first visited in middle of summer, truly such a…read morebeautiful walking experience that made it so memorable. Everyone walking/running by was friendly!! The environment is so well taken care of, I can tell the community puts a significant effort into up keeping it! It made me want to volunteer as well!! 100% recommend taking a walk here to decompress, get exercise in and/or to run since the trail does provide different paths along with different sets of intervals that can help!

Cuba Marsh is a nice preserve with the marsh its name alludes to, and many other wetlands…read moresupporting many waterfowl and migratory birds. The trails are all crushed rock and easy to navigate whether on a bike or foot. There are no steep grades or climbs here. There are quite a few groves of pine trees throughout the preserve that are just a little too perfectly spaced and lined up to make you think they just grew that way naturally. Pretty though to hike through if the sun is hot and you need some shade. This is a nice local preserve but I do appreciate preserves with more variety - Cuba Marsh is flat and very sunny!! I tend to avoid it on the hotter summer days because I have a very healthy appreciation for shade!! If you want a nice hike or bike ride and love the sun, Cuba Marsh is definitely worth a visit. I prefer this preserve in the Spring, Fall, and cooler days when the temps and humidity don't get very high. If you are a sun-lover, this is the place to be on a hot day!!

The Lantern Festival was located here. Such a great experience…read more I've not been here other than this experience but the are is large. There are picnic tables and a concessions building. It's located down by the water. Would be a great place for football or volleyball.

I live in the a nearby town and had never realized it was here!…read more A coworker suggested the Jack O'Lanterns of the World event they had, and we decided to make a date night of it. We went on Sunday, and were really surprised by all the trails and the lake access - I'd thought it was just a skate park based off shopping across the street my whole life. My partner and I really enjoyed the event, and are excited to go back and explore the options for fun daytime activities. Going off another review, Lake Zurich is definitely not a rural/hidden lake, it's smack dab in the middle of suburbia and exactly what we expected.

This Forest Preserve has a large indoor Nature Center, bird watching, caged owls, hawk, hiking…read morevarious tree species and trails! This Forest preserve has it all. The Crabtree Nature Center & Trails is a fun place for the whole family. There are varying trails depending on the distance you want to cover: short & longer up to 3.5 miles approx. Trails are well maintained however it's good to know that they are not paved and are mostly grassy, a bit muddy (if it's wet) and uneven in places. The path offers plenty of shade and nice bench seating areas along the way. It's a very pretty trail and the fall foliage is beautiful!

This nature preserve offers year round activities and is perfect for families who love the…read moreoutdoors. There are trails , a nature center and even a small bird habitat with owls and hawks. Plenty of parking. Free admission. Check their website for exact hours.

Nothing spectacular or super exciting, but a park with a pretty nice lake view. They have a…read moreplayground-- a playground that's very old. Needs maintenance-- there were literally geese skeletons everywhere. Don't look at that picture if you're squeamish. Oh, also dead fish and other animals. Maybe it's a lion!

I happened upon this park when I got to the library just up the road a little early and had some…read moretime to fill. If you're waiting for the library open like I was, it's a short, easy walk. I was so glad for the extra time as I wouldn't have found this great park otherwise! The park being on the waterfront is mainly what makes this park great, it's a nice open area to enjoy the water. There is a cute little park with lots of slides and some swings. The picnic shelter is very large and close to the water. Further down from the park area there looked to be some ball fields. Looking forward to coming back here!