Palos Preserves has a lot going on. You can fish; in fact, I saw a few people doing that. There…read morewere several people biking through the preserves (some casual, some much more hard core). Walking trails, which is what I was using with the group I was in. Of course, Camp Bullfrog is a major attraction at this site, situated on Bullfrog Lake; you can rent paces for camping anywhere from 2 or 3 days up to 10 days per month. And there's also picnic groves around the place too. There are a few port-a-potties, and there may be an actual restroom with flush toilets a bit southwest of Bullfrog Lake; I forgot to check. Nearby are Sagawau Nature Center and the Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center, amongst other places. Palos is an International Dark Sky location, so the Forest Preserve District of Cook County sometimes has programs here. There's some hilliness here, and some of the areas I was in were not accessible--though it's possible the campsite is. You should contact them if you are in need of an accessible place to recreate.

Never in a million years would I have believed you if you told me that one of the best running…read moretrails in the USA was in IL. But that's exactly what I found at Palos Forest Preserves. I ignored the Yelp map directions, which drops you in the middle of the street, and instead followed that street until it became a dead end. I parked in the parking lot by the dead end and began my trail there. This ended up being about a 2-2 1/2 hour adventure, at about 16K steps (running half way). The trail has some nice markers to help keep you on the right track, but more would be even better because I ended up doing "eenie meenie minie moe" at several junction points and just hoped for the best. My favorite part about these trails were the inclines and natural obstacle courses. Watch out for the trees though. A couple of the roots reached out and grabbed my foot on more than one occasion, causing me to kiss the ground. I'm certain I heard some giggles coming from the treetops. Cheeky lil bastards. The views were breathtaking during my autumn visits. Very peaceful in many areas and not too crowded, unless you came on the weekend when the bikers take over. They treat it like it's their world, which is very annoying. If I lived in the area, I would definitely frequent these woods with my mountain bike. If running/hiking was fun, biking would be a blast! However, I would remember to share the trails with pedestrians.

Incredibly beautiful Proksa Park in South Berwyn has undergone a make over. Just in time for the…read more100th Year Route 66 Celebration. Incredible design of this tranquil space with water features; games throughout the park. Frisby Disc... mmm . It's very interesting. Large paths for walking. Nature trees throughout the park. Open abundance of green areas. Tennis courts. Baseball fields. Community vegetable Gardens. Large multi children's modern playground equipment. The dedication benches placed throughout the park for leisure and rest time. They even have an activities building. Check out the signs throughout the park, to see the local Habitat in the Pond. Pets on leashes are fine they even offer waste pick up bags to promote healthy environmental habits. This massive space is yet another wonderful park in Berwyn. Visitors , Be respectful of the. Neighbors as this is a quiet neighborhood community. East of Harlem Avenue. South of Berwyn Public Library. North of Route 66

It's a beautiful place to walk to to jist get out on a beautiful day,and enjoy yoire community....read more

This park is great, but it's really old. They have festivals there. It's really fun. There's two…read morebasketball course one inside and one outside there is this running trail or biking trail whatever you call it and they have workout accessories in the trail, but it's really old like I just said there is a frizz be course that's cool. Also on a winter you could go sledding. BUT BE CAREFUL BECAUSE ITS CROWDED so crowded that I bumped into kids every time I go down so if you guys are gonna go sledding, just be careful. Also, does anyone know about the abandoned waterpark they used to have

Hey Summit. How about investing a lil money in the kids playground area? It's covered with mud,…read moregrass and weeds and small traces off mulch! Or, place a sign advising kids to wear their mud boots while in the playground area! Probably one reason why people call it Scummit!

A fantastic park is on the far South Side with some cool scenery including a beach. Calumet Park is…read moreone of my lesser appreciated favorites. It just about is as close as you can get to Indiana. Beach of course is the best part about here. The rest of the park has some gardens and hiking trails. Either in summer or winter it's a beautiful place for hanging. It has a few big parking lots. There's plentiful parking meaning it's usually easy to find somewhere. Beach is the most notable feature. This goes along a few miles. Certainly it isn't always pretty around here. There's some ugly old factories, including those across the lake in Gary, but besides that it's beautiful mostly. Be warned about the nuisances here, which include birds and bugs. It's especially bad in the summer. This park is most happening then and has features such as athletic facilities and other fun things.

Beautiful park! Plenty of stone walkways, views of the lake, and trees for a relaxing experience…read more The park is huge and plenty of open space and various amenities, and kiddie playgrounds too. We enjoyed walking the dog and the views

Midway Plaisance is another large park in Hyde Park, in and around the University of Chicago…read morecampus. The park connects Washington Park from the west to Jackson Park to the east. It's name comes from its origins as the midway for the 1893 World's Fair Columbian Exposition, as various attractions were laid out along the midway. It was designed by Frank Law Olmstead, the most famous landscape architect of the 18th century and really the originator of landscape architecture as a profession. This park was to be established somewhere in the late 1860s to 1870, but the Great Chicago Fire put a hold on those plans. When the World's Fair came to Chicago, Olmstead and bastion of Chicago architecture Daniel Burnham were given the task of making it a sumptuous event, and Midway Plaisance was a major part of that. Nowadays I find it actually to be a pretty boring park. Someone described it as a big median and it's kind of an apt description. On both sides of the park are UChicago buildings, and you can can sometimes find parking along the sides of the park. There's an skating rink here that's used for different kinds of skating throughout the year. Here's a history tidbit for you: The location of the rink is the precise location of the Ferris wheel, an invention for the Fair. There are various playing/practice fields for soccer and whatnot. You'll find some monuments throughout the park, as Chicago loves its monuments. There's a section called the Reader's Garden, with the Carl von Linne statue. It's not a destination park, but perhaps some of the little enclaves within the park are worth a visit if you're here anyway.

The pleasant Midway runs from Jackson Park to Washington Park, and gives Hyde Park much of its…read moreamazing green space. Designed by architects Olmstead and Taft in the late 1800, the Midway has hosted entertainment and sport since around the time of the Chicago Worlds Fair and it's storied White City. If you like the park, and are interested in learning about it and the surrounding Hyde Park area, I recommend a book titled 'Devil in the White City'.

I've gone to this forest preserve since I started living in Chicago. It used to be fairly quiet,…read morean occasional bike rider here and there, but mostly empty, and the trails had funky color coded trails that we seriously got lost on the first time I went here. I used to be able to allow my dog to walk off leash (she's very well behaved) ...but alas, this is not true anymore. We hadn't been in about a year, and went back to get some fresh air, and it was disappointing. They had an animal control unit present so we couldn't let our dog off leash, which is really the primary reason we would go out there...so she can be independent and have fun exploring. We felt we were being watched like hawks, so its no longer peaceful, but has fallen under big brother's ever watchful gaze. Time to find a new place to walk.

I did the vast majority of my marathon training on this trail system, and my boyfriend and I bike…read morethese trails about once a week. This is a great trail system in the south burbs if you're looking for a paved trail for running or biking. The trail system is well maintained. The scenery is lovely, and the trails are generally pretty empty too which I particularly enjoy when I just want to zone out during a long run.

You can get on to the Yellow Trail if you head across the field and into the woods. The field by…read morethe parking lot is a nice flat open space, great for picnicking. There's lots of parking and it doesn't seem like too busy a park (but not creepy or deserted--a welcome change from the likes of Swallow Cliff, for example). There are little lakes around of course, but it's not right on a lake lie some of the other parks--I'd say that's an upside and a downside in that it lacks the beauty of a lake, but probably lacks the mosquitoes, too. Out in the woods at Cherry Hill is a different story--out in the trees that place is literally swarming with mosquitoes, so don't forget your bugspray.

So Tinley park has this massive storm water reservoir with a lake at the center that they turned…read moreinto a community park. They have a couple of large parking lots there to stash your vehicle while visiting. One of the main entrances is right past one of the Tinley Park fire stations. Many paved trails to walk around the lake, with a high route and a low route to vary up the scenery. On the high elevation they have a number of picnic tables and the like for those that want to have a meal. They also have a large playground there for the kids to keep busy while the parents chill. The lower route is mainly for jogging and walking ... although you'll find a lot of bikes in the area also. At the other end you'll find baseball and soccer fields, skateboard, and basketball too. They also have a little dock off which you can fish. Be forewarned - no dogs allowed, which is good for some people and not so much for others. This is a sort of difficult kind of place to find, but that keeps it a treasure.

So peaceful. People…read morereally seem to be respectful and take care of the property for the most part. Trash usually isn't all over. I really enjoyed my evening out it was restful and gave me a sense of calm even though this is in the the middle of a really busy suburb. Didn't hear any cars, horns, sirens or anything like that. There was some noise from the ball fields but that was also far enough away that that wasn't crazy loud either. Check it out when you have a chance