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.

The animals are very cute, it's been a while since I've been and I'm not quite sure what they have…read morethere anymore

I was really disgusted. The price is expensive for what the zoo is, not worth it. Almost every…read moreanimal had pace marks which is a sign of zoochosis. Zoochosis happens when an animal is extremely unhappy and doesn't have enough space or enrichment. Every enclosure was very small as well. I will say that i was there for the small animal feeding time and it seems like they had been eating good food which was nice. The baby goats were very fun though! They were so cute but overpopulated for their enclosure. I do NOT recommend this zoo whatsoever go somewhere else for your baby goat needs.

Though most of the pictures don't show it (I'll try to add more), there's also a playground and…read moresplash pad here (though I've never seen the water running). The playground has two sections, one for the younger kids, with smaller slides and stairs, and a larger one for the climbers! There are swing sets with harnesses for your toddlers and regular flat ones for the high fliers! This park is well maintained and great for meetups and play dates. There's also a covered pavilion with several picnic tables if you want to have a meal. In the winter time, sledding is very popular, with some pretty steep slopes for those who like speed. The trails here are scenic and wide, safe for you if you'd like to bring a stroller. There are some parts with wood chips, so be advised. Also, there are public bathrooms on site, so perfect for a longer excursion.

I've hiked Veteran Acres many, many times. There's a decent variety of trails and they do a pretty…read moregood job of maintaining them. I'll run into deer; especially early in the AM or at dusk. Not very crowded. And you don't feel like you're in the middle of Crystal Lake once you get back into the wooded areas.

Serene nature experience. Wooded area includes a pond, bridge, and a pier overlooking the water…read more Nestled on the water's surface is a small flower island, quietly floating. The walking paths are very well kept and offer both a short version or a longer one. A nature playground, pollinator garden, and a modern facility hosting summer science camps, educational programs, a Mud Day, an exhibit/interactive Discovery space for all ages & critter tracking are all available. Facility hours are Thursday - Saturday. 10am-3pm. Dog friendly walking open until dusk. A Must Visit!

We stopped at Hawthorne Hill Nature Center while passing through. The boys needed to stretch their…read morelegs a bit and have some food before we got back ok the road. This was a beautiful place! With a nature playground, pollinator garden, and nice walking trails. There was a paved trail available for those with strollers as well. We even looked up and saw a deer watching us from about 10ft away. While the one downside was no bathroom (it looks like the nature center is only open Friday and Saturday) and a few biting flies... it was worth it to stretch our legs in nature for a bit. We'll consider this place again when traveling through.

This place is a hidden gem.... literally. Well, not literally a gem, but literally hidden. GPS told…read moreme to make a right, where all I saw was a Nissan dealership. Nope, and instead I ended up circling around. But sure, enough, make a right when the GPS tells you too. Ignore that the car dealership is there, and pay attention to the fact there's a giant sign letting you know Vogelei Park is there. We had a barbecue at one of the seating areas with a roof and it was OK. The engineers who designed and created the shelter's roof apparently didn't like the sunrise, as the way it was angled, the unusual early June 90-degree heat and sun shone right on us during the early evening. After it got dark, the shelter had lights that illuminated, which was a bummer. Overall though, it's a great place to consider for a BBQ. BATHROOM REVIEW: Located in the building, the bathrooms were good, for a public park bathroom. It had a couple of urinals and stalls. Sit or squat? Squat.

HIDDEN PARK ALERT!! HIDDEN GEM ALERT!…read more When the sun came out one afternoon after a cloudy, dreary week, I knew I had to find some outdoor spot to frolic about in. Since I was in Palatine at the time, and wanted to go home to Roselle without driving too far out of my way, I pulled up the Yelp app and typed in "park." Too many places popped up, none were what I was looking for. So I tried, "zoo." One of the first things to pop up was the Northern Illinois Raptor Center. What!? I did a quick search on what it was, expected there was some kind of magical owl zoo somewhere, and headed out this way. The drive to this park is very easy to miss. I did miss it, and had to do a long turn about through a neighborhood to get back to the entrance, which is located off of Higgins at the intersection of Golf, in between a couple car dealerships. The easiest way to find it is to look for the Hoffman Estates Park District sign and turn RIGHT THERE. Then you'll see a barn at the end of the drive and a park. Whew. I got out of my car, walked over to the barn and older building, found locked doors, wandered over to a map, scanned the map, saw absolutely no mention of any raptors or owls or birds, and decided, "Screw it, I'll just go walk around the park since I'm already here." Fortunately, my disappointment was quickly dissolved after one leisurely lap around the park. Here's what Vogelei has: - A pond that's part of the Bio Swale Water Quality Initiative. I'm still not quite clear on what it is, but it's a water system that cleans storm water runoff of man-made chemicals while providing a habitat for animals and helping the environment. Whatever it was, it sounded and looked awesome -- grassy, marshy areas, a walking path, a picturesque bride and gazebo. And white birds with long legs that fly away when I try to take pictures (darn bird). - A rose garden. Not a very big rose garden, but it's a nice little rose garden with blooms bigger than my hand. I kid you not. Crazy giant flowers. - Lots of grassy areas for picnicking, hooping, and running around like crazy. The park district also holds concerts (mainly for kids) here sometimes. - A playground jungle gym that's shaped like a barn. Sweet. - A splash pad!! It's basically a large, squishy pad with sprinklers. It's turned on during the day -- all you have to do is press down on one of the buttons on the padded surface to activate the water that shoots up. Yes, there is a chance you could get wet doing this. It's fun. Take it from this lady with the crazy hair (oh, what a sight that must have been)! - A conifer garden: an area with a bunch of tiny pine tree bushes. - Safety town. One of those little set-ups where kids can ride their tiny bikes around a little town and learn how to be safe when they cross the street and all that fun stuff. - The barn. Apparently the barn holds some kind of banquet room that you can rent for events. Cool. The park district's summer camp also uses the building for the kids -- I kind of felt like a creep walking in there. Not sure what that other, seemingly abandoned building was for. I probably spent a good forty-five minutes lurking around the park. Not bad. Still no awesome owl zoo, though. Disappointed, I left and wrote this review. As I was finishing up this review earlier this morning, I decided I really needed to go back and find that mysterious magical bird zoo before finishing this review! Back I went... and instead of an empty park, I was greeting with a full parking lot and tons of camp kids. Definitely not the kind of scene for aimless wandering with a camera. Fortunately, someone pointed me in the direction of the raptor center... YES! IT EXISTS! ... which was in a cluster of tiny house-like buildings, surrounded by a fence to keep people out. There were no birds. The birds will be on display later this year or something. Bummer, but so glad I figured out this mystery! SO. This definitely isn't your typical suburban neighborhood park. I won't go out of my way to come back here again (OK, maybe I will -- because I already did), but if I'm in the area and looking for a quiet park to hang out in, I'd re-visit. Nice job, Hoffman Estates.

Park is open from dawn to dusk and has a playground, tennis courts (no lights), basketball court,…read moresoccer field, and baseball field. It also includes a half mile trail you can walk around. Of note, I've seen foxes and coyotes roaming around during dusk. *Children not included

Just visited this park for the first time recently and it's now my kids current fave. In addition…read moreto the playground, there is plenty of field space (open grassy area) where the kids can run around outside the playground area, along with a baseball field, and even a port-a-potty. There are two playground sections and swing areas. One on side, it's geared towards tots and little ones, ages 2-5. Smaller scaled slides, bridges, monkey bars and climbers. It also has a counter area under the playset. My kids love to play 'ice cream' here, where one stands behind the counter and the other 'orders' ice cream. Lol...they've been doing this a while at many other parks, but started a trend on one particular day at Marsh Park...and all the other kids joined in with them. There are two dinosaur 'riders' in this area, and there is also a merry-go-round-type spinning ride where the kids can either site inside or climb on the outside...this is a particular hit with my kids and judging from the times we've been here so far, all other kids too, and all ages! 4 swings in this area, all with the baby seat. The other side of the playground is geared towards the older kids. 4 swings here, but the standard swing seats for bigger kids/teenagers/adults. Climbing structure includes slides, climbing wall, monkey bars, bridges, jumping spring 'pods'. It's a nice obstacle climbing from one end of the play set to the other. My kids love the telescope included here, and the games (driving wheel, gear turners) included in this play set. Even though it's geared towards the older kids, my 3 and 5 year old are comfortable on this set as well...though, have to pay a little extra attention to the 3 year old since it's a little high for him to climb. I really like the landscaping at Marsh Park. Pretty trees line the playground and play area, wood chips in the playground area, and nice brick to provide seating around the perimeter, though there is also a picnic table and a few benches. We've been here 3 out of the last 5 days this week in the 80 degree weather, but the equipment doesn't get so hot to touch that the kids are uncomfortable. And we were here on a late afternoon/early-evening one night when the EGV Park District little league was playing in the ball field. That was fun to watch from the playground. It's a nice quiet neighborhood as well with residential homes surrounding the area...residents are fortunate to live so close to this park! If you are driving here, lots of parking space around the perimeter of the park.

What a Huntley treasure! My seven and three-year-old spent two hours at this park without ever…read moreasking, "When are we leaving?" I take that as a win. We loved the basketball court with a variety of backboards, sand and water area, swings and rocking school bus. As another Yelper mentioned, the loud train whistle leaves something to be desired. Peace and quiet, if we're going to get specific. Tip: Do not perch yourself on the bench right next to the whistle. Big mistake. This park is worth a visit. The nearby pool looked great too. Maybe next time.

This is the best park in the Chicagoland area!! Keeps my toddler occupied for hours…read more Excavators with digging sand, instruments, slides, swings for adults and children. Running water for making sand castles. Bike paths, nice restroom facilities (for an outdoor park).