Beautiful natural area, nature center is very kid-centered with friendly help, small gift shop,…read morebenches and picnic tables for resting!

Review Visit: September 29th, 2013…read more I remember coming here a few times as a kid on field trips. It was awesome as kid. They taught us about animals, bugs, nature and everything else outdoorsy. Then we got to hike a smaller trail as a group. Maybe this is what caused me to be such an avid outdoors person. Coming back here after about 2 decades was a huge nostalgic trip. Nothing had changed from what I remember as a kid. I'm sure things have been changed and updated since the early 90's, but it still retained that feel and look I remember as kid. The main building has set hours, but I do believe you can hike there before they open, as long as you follow the rule of 'no hiking before sunrise and after sunset'. Don't quote me on that. Inside the building is a small gift shop. There are quite a few learning activity areas to enrich yourself on local foliage and fauna. They hold a lot of events here, so you are surely able to drop in once a week and encounter some fun activity going on. There are plenty of trails to hike. If you want a quick hike, they have short trails. If you desire something challenging, you can hike some tough trails. Just be careful, I know a few people who have wandered off the path and ended up in a business area of Peoria Heights. The last time I was there, they had a 100-mile hike challenge. It was $10-15 to sign up and you record your hiking distances in a book there. Once you reach 100 miles, you get an award of some sort. I think it was a t-shirt and a certificate. Ive been wanting to sign up for it since I learned about it. But life gets busy. :/ Parking is plentiful but be warned; its a popular place, so there is usually a good amount of cars there at all time. But you shouldn't have a problem most of the time finding a parking spot. If you are native to the area and haven't been here, do yourself a favor and check it out. If yo are from out of town, also do yourself a favor and stop by for a quick hike. You won't regret it.

Stopped to look at while in town. Looks like it could be a neat stop, but was closed, I guess…read moredue to weather. It has been raining off and on that weekend, but it was fine when I was there for the rest of the day.

Check out one of the main attractions of Peoria Heights. It doesn't seem that exciting, and it…read moreisn't. Tower Park is of course a park with a tower. However many times the tower isn't even open. Meaning there's usually not much to come and see. As for the rest of the park, it's not bad. It has some playground equipment. The park is next to a city garage and has a good amount of parking. At least that part is free. It's $2 to go up in the tower. Honestly there's not that much to see up there, mostly houses. You can see the river though. Also has a plaque dedicated to Peoria native Dan Fogelberg. That's about it. Good place to spend a few minutes in and around. It gets boring pretty fast. There are some pretty good views.

Several websites recommended that my husband and I check out the Luthy Botanical Garden and after…read morevisiting, I can't figure out why this place was recommended. We went there on a Saturday morning. Parking was very difficult to come by. There was no clear entrance. On this Saturday, there were vendors selling their wares. There were too many vendors taking up too much space. I went there to enjoy nature, not feel forced to buy things. There was a singer and guitar player who was too loud and not very good. I enjoyed walking and seeing the flowers and sculptures but there was not enough of that at this garden. Luthy Botanical Garden is too commercial and there is not enough garden.

Wha a lovely stop on my day trip today! I loved observing the winter phase of the outdoor gardens…read moreas well as the permanent art pieces and sculptures. The real treat was the greenhouse space though! I really love to learn all the names of everything around me and they're all expertly labeled with large font which my group appreciated. And nice that admission is free! Be sure to leave a donation though.

Are dogs on a leash allowed in the park? I have a French Bulldog. My dog would like meeting farm…read moreanimals.

Great place for toddlers! The animals are very well taken care of and the place looks very clean!…read moreMy niece who is 2 years old has an amazing time feeding the cows, rabbits, ducks, horses, sheep and hens! The park has a good play area too! They also have plenty of seating arrangements - benches, wooden swings and chairs where you can rest and relax under the trees. Overall I would totally recommend this place!

Review Visit: October 8th, 2014…read more A park as massive as the town is small. I'm not kidding when I say this park is massive for the size of the town its located in. When I set my destination to this place, my girlfriend (who is from the area) said it was a hangout spot for her as a kid. She failed to mention how massive the place was. We got there and parked and I had to ask, "Is this really it?! This park is huge!". She confirmed that my eyes weren't playing trick on me. This park really is spread out with lots of open fields and areas to hike. Time was important since the sun was setting, so we didn't get to spend the afternoon seeing what the park had to offer. We did get to walk around a little bit, play on some of the playground equipment, and check out Lee Cabin. The cabin was a cool little gem hidden in a park that is a gem itself. There isn't much else to say. Its a park that you can seemingly do a lot at. Walk, hike, play on the equipment, picnic... and who knows what else since I only saw parts of it. If you are in the area and have an itch to explore something between a small city park and a state/national park, Black Partridge Park is perfect for that.

Nice little zoo, very clean and friendly staff. Easy path to follow that passes by everything…read more Animals were active and looked healthy. Some exhibits are all fence thus a little harder to photograph. Was surprised to see a smaller zoo have mandrills!

While in town, my husband and I went to the Peoria Zoo to see the zoo lights. It is highly…read morerecommended that you buy tickets ahead of time. Entries are timed so that the zoo doesn't get too crowded at any one time. Most animals are asleep or in other areas at night but we did get to see the lion and some other animals. The zoo was large and spacious. There were nice walking paths that you could take to get to the different areas of the zoo. The different sections of the zoo were well labeled. There were many, many lights and plenty of opportunities to take pictures. I would visit the Peoria Zoo again.

Review Visit: July 26th, 2016…read more A mountain of shenanigans has been had here. Disclaimer; I've been to Mt. Hawley to play mini-golf quite a few times. It's one of the casual things I like to do to spend an afternoon hanging with my friends. Plus, who doesn't have fun playing mini-golf? Especially if your friends are in to shenanigans. Matt, Tim, and I came here in late 2011. This was the year before I started to travel as my main hobby. When we came here, we had intentions of just playing mini-golf and that was in... but once we go inside, we knew we were going to stick around for some shenanigans. Before we even paid for our clubs and ball, we got distracted by the little arcade they had set up inside. We probably spent more time than we expected playing the games and winning those cheap candy prizes from some of the machines. Eventually, we worked our way to the mini golf area. It's been a few years since I've been here so my memory is a bit sketchy of the layout. But this place has your typical 18 holes. I believe the 18th hole is one where you can try to get you ball in a certain area for a free game. I can't say I ever won that prize but the price of admission is cheap enough that you don't feel bad for making a crap shot. The course itself is pretty spacious and sprawling. Each hole feels distinct and away from the next one that you never feel like you will be bumping in to people playing at the adjoining hole. I've had that happen a few other places. During my visit in 2011, I remember making a hole-in-one shot on the 15th hole. I took a victory shot with the number out of excitement. I suck at mini-golf so to get a hole-in-one was a miracle. Or black magic. Or luck. It was one of those 3 things. I came back in 2016 to add this place to my Travel List and... I almost got another hole-in-one on the 15th hole. How awesome would that have been! I did some close on a few of the other holes but no dice. My girlfriend and I get pretty competitive during a game of mini-golf. We usually make a bet before we begin for ice cream and I usually end up having to pay. At least its a delicious loss. They do offer bowling here as well. I like to dabble in a game or two but I've honestly never played here. There is also a bar but I've also never used it, so I don't have much to say beyond that. Should I get to experience either of these two things, I will update this post with information/photos. Mt. Hawley is one of my favorite places to go for mini-golf. I'm not sure why but there's just something about this place that draws me to it. Maybe because it's usually not busy and they have some arcade games to play before or after partaking in mini-golf and/or bowling. Time to text my friends and see if anyone wants to beat me in mini-golf.

I have bowled over 35 years at this establishment and the owner and staff that he employs are…read moreamazing. A great place to take your family miniature golfing and bowling. I wouldn't bowl any place else.

The harvest operation was shut down for the day due to a substantial amount of rain that had fallen…read morethis morning so I decided to do some exploring in the area. I came across this cool trail and couldn't believe there wasn't a Yelp page for it! So like a good and responsible Elite, I created one (tyvm, and you're welcome). Anyhow, some facts about the trail. It's 24 miles, beginning at MM "0" in Alto, and ending at MM "24" in Toulon. It goes through towns: Dunlap at MM "5"; Princeville at MM "10"; Stark at MM "15"; and. Wyoming at MM "20". The trail is well packed (being an old railroad there's a good small rock base) and approximately 6-8 feet in width - large enough to accommodate both hikers and cyclists. Dogs are welcome but must be on a leash. As noted, cyclists are welcome and in fact I encountered two riders while on my short 2 mile hike out, and 2 mile hike back. There were several people out walking too - some with their wonderful 4 legged furry friends. The first two miles I covered had a nice canopy of trees which provided a lot of shade. However I'm sure there are open areas so that in the hotter months I would recommend taking a bottle (or two, depending on how far you're going) of water along to stay hydrated. I saw a few squirrels along the way but one might also expect to see deer, raccoons, geese (in the fall), among other wildlife. There's plenty of parking in the parking lot. There's a covered picnic table, a restrooms building, and a billboard that illustrates the 24 mile route along with a brief history of the Rock Island Railroad. I enjoyed my afternoon walk and may return on a Sunday (or another rain day) to enjoy this beautiful trail. If you haven't been here you should come and check it out. Walking and/or cycling is fun and good for your health.