I love this little park in Printer's Row! It's really warm and inviting, with multiple paths and…read morelots of seating. It's a nice place to sit and enjoy the trees. I like to read here. Lots of people pass thru with their cute dogs. It's a relaxing and positive vibe.

Cool small park located in the South Loop. Dearborn Park is also in the neighborhood of the same…read morename. It has a few features including a fitness course and a playground. Mostly exists for the residents around it. This is next to the large housing complex, and most people here are from there. A redevelopment of a former train station resulted in the creation of this green area. It's the former site of the Dearborn Street Railroad Station. The architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill laid out the residential complex in the 1970s, and the park is the centerpiece of this. Among the features is a fitness course. The neighborhood and park are named after General Henry Dearborn, who was also a Secretary Of War. He served as this for Thomas Jefferson. The park has a pretty modern playground Good place for people who live here to hang around. It's also close to the Chicago Curry House if you get hungry. There's a few other places around to eat or whatever.

Wonderful place for the kids! There's a lot of fields, the mountain is fun to explore.read more

Best Hill to sled down in the north burbs, holler at this place when you have kids, don't show up…read moredrunk on a broken piece of plastic and flail down the hill. Easy street parking, they used to slang hot cocoa, but no mo'. Thanks for the memories, I will be creating more with my kids. Love.

It was a breath of fresh air the evening I decided to run at Miller Meadow Forest Preserve. Being…read morethat I work nearby as well as drive along Roosevelt Ave where I pass by Miller Meadow - North, it was only a matter of time that I would conduct some form of an activity at Miller Meadow. I entered off 1st Ave which is labeled as Miller Meadow - South; and the first feature that immediately caught my eye was its off-leash dog area which was huge. As a fitness enthusiast that has been running for years, I would categorize the difficulty level of Miller Meadow - South as moderate because the terrain is not entirely flat. Distance markings are marked along the path, a loop style path totaling 1.70 miles per loop. I encountered mostly walkers, a few joggers, and a couple of recreational bike riders along the path. At one point during my loop, there was a woman who caught and overtook me as I ran. We went back-and-forth with me overtaking her and her overtaking me which brought competitiveness during my time on the path. I spent no more than forty-minutes during my initial run on the path but could have easily gone longer if I had the time. While well into the path, I felt that sense of being in nature as well as engulfed by tall grass in certain parts. I also felt that feeling of being secluded, but there were always nature's animals within sight that kept me in the moment. I could not help but enjoy the beautiful sounds of birds chirping, glimpses of the red-winged blackbird throughout the entire path, and I even saw a deer from afar in the woods. There are a variety of activities you can conduct within the path of Miller Meadow - South; some of those activities I can certainly see are hiking, running, walking, biking, in-line skating, or even bird watching. The area can also be used to conduct large gatherings, or picnics; and its large field is perfect for many recreational activities you can partake in. The area is well-maintained, consisting of benches with tables located in shaded areas near or underneath trees, but very few picnic shelters which are perfect for large gatherings; and there are even a couple of portable restrooms within the space. Along the path, there are waste and recycling bins, even in some of the secluded spots. And on top of it all, Miller Meadow has a very spacious parking lot. Overall, I had a very pleasant experience at Miller Meadow Forest Preserve, as indicated in this review and would definitely return. As a runner, I can see myself returning just to conduct interval runs around its loop in build-up to long run events I participate in. ~An adventure a day keeps the doctor away. ~ Thomas G

It was good. It went perfectly. I got to ride a tandem bike. There was a lot of stuff to do!read more

My discovery of Sunset Bridge Meadow came after I took an alternate run route because the underpass…read moreheaded north towards Schiller Woods South was blocked off due to flooding. And since then, I have been slowly moving further south with hopes of locating paths that lead to Thatcher Woods which I hope to eventually start off at in the future to train for marathon runs as I have done before, but at Fullerton Woods trailhead. What I like about this trailhead is that its parking lot is spacious, and highly visible being that it sits along a highly driven on W North Ave. And on top of it having a spacious parking lot, it has a huge open field that is perfect for activities outside of outdoor picnics at the grove. Out of the trailheads in this area which are Fullerton Woods and Jerome Huppert Woods, I recommend this one for safety and security purposes due to its location if you plan to be on the Des Plaines River Trail for more than an hour exploring. Because with its location being in a highly visible area along W North Ave anything suspicious will be easily identified. And also there are a decent number of visitors in-and-out. Once you enter the Des Plaines River Trail, it is a whole different world where you can easily escape reality and be one with nature that covers an estimated total of 28.4 miles. And if you are lucky you will encounter some of the wildlife that live within the preserve too. On the Des Plaines River Trail, you will encounter hikers, dog walkers, mountain bikers and trail runners which all are friendly from what I have experienced. Most encounters with mountain bikers can throw your pacing off depending on how many there are in a pack which most of the time are no more than four. I do recommend taking the encounters as the time for a short break to hydrate or gather yourself until they pass by on whatever portion of the trail you may be on if there is not enough room. And lastly, a tip on how to not get off track on this trail is to stay along the Des Plaines River, which will end up on your left hand side once you cross the bridge. If you cannot see the river then you may have went in the wrong direction, but I assure you it is not hard to miss. And the further north you go towards the state line of Wisconsin the more the trail disconnects. ~Blessings~ Thomas G

Great place to walk by beach very tranquil and peaceful, were many walk and jog, surrounded by…read morepeople with similar goal of exercise and maintaining good health

09/25/20 - This area just to the east of recreation drive will always have a lot a special place in…read moremy heart for me. Over the years I have seen the changes that have taken place along the lakeshore where this runs along the lake to the opening into Belmont Harbor. I use to take my 3 dogs (2 Akita's & 1 Golden Retriever) here once or twice a week in all kinds of weather. I've seen everything from the lake being glass smooth & almost motionless to having huge waves crashing up on the rocky shores. I would come out all year long and got to see the magnificence that is Lake Michigan and it's many seasons & moods from summer to complete white outs w/snow and the lake starting to freeze. The shoreline used to be huge stones that were cut and layered to create stepped rows that ran continuously along the shore, but over the years the water & waves caused so much damage that the stones were literally being pulled and sucked into the lake destroying the intended purpose of protecting the shoreline against erosion. At some point Chicago decided to rebuild the shoreline. They put steel sheet piling I along the lake & poured the first layer of concrete. As they stepped back & away from the lake they stepped up in elevation completely rebuilding each tier to provide a more durable protection for the shoreline. Even though it's more durable wind, water, rain and the lake levels constantly pounding it at high tides and winds is causing wear and tear. Chicago has created a beautiful lakefront w/much of the same type of protection along the lake for everyone to use, ie hikers, runners, bikers, skateboarders, roller bladers, swimmers, dog walkers, swimmers. I give them so much credit for what the city has created for everyone's use, but alas Mother Nature w/ the wind & waves has created erosion along parts of the shoreline. Awesome city, awesome lake, awesome food. Chicago is my kind of town

Get some good views from this small park close to Navy Pier that gets overlooked a lot. It being…read moreclose to a big tourist attraction means it gets ignored by most people. Jane Addams Memorial Park is a hidden gem in plain sight basically. Lots to see around here. This is popular with yoga classes and those coming for a workout. A small park located by Ohio Street Beach. It's a small park and there's not much as far as facilities. This used to be called Navy Pier Park. Located not far from the popular tourist area. This was renamed in 1996 to honor the social reformer and Nobel Peace Prize winner. Check out the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum to learn more about her and her activism. This meanwhile is a pretty good place for chilling, or working out as there's many bicyclists and runners around it seems. Has a pretty good location. It's close to a popular area for tourists. There's also sights like the skyline and other good views.

Such a cute, beautiful, and serene park…read more I walked here on top of the snow that I saw for the first time in my life and it was such a beautiful experience. This park has nice trees and benches. Easy to walk and then a little bit farther you can even see the water and the view it's marvelous.

Nice, clean beach with easy access parking. Beautiful area to stroll on the beach or sidewalk…read more Plenty of benches along the walk to rest and enjoy the view on a beautiful day!

Beautiful Evening to go for a stroll. Around 70 degrees with very low humidity. Walk along the…read morelake heading north towards Northwestern University & circle back along Sheridan & see the beautiful homes.

09/14/20 - I walk the trail on the west side of Central Ave all the time and I see this sign for…read moreEdgebrook Woods (on the east side of Central Ave) all the time. Today my curiosity got the better of me so I crossed over to explore. Edgebrook Woods is a tiny isolated blip on the radar part of the immense forest preserve system that spans across multiple cities and counties in Illinois. Yes I crossed over to the other side and dared to venture where no Yelp reviewer had ever gone before and dare I say I entered it into the world according to Yelp. Walking into this unknown I was the only soul in the entire forest preserve or so I thought. It was nice to get off of the path so frequently traveled w/all the other hikers, bikers, joggers and dog walkers. I found total peace & isolation. As I meandered deeper into the woods I had an overwhelming sense of peace & tranquility. All the way at the back in the turn around I saw a service van backed into a corner nestled tight against the bushes maybe resting after his shift was over (or hiding or sleeping). As is so common in these woods there is an over abundance of wildlife that seems to thrive and coexist w/uggg humans. I saw a deer & a red tailed hawk looking for its next meal.

It is very frustrating to give these woods a 1 star review because I drive past them everyday and…read morethey look beautiful and I have always wanted to stop there. So a few weeks ago I went on my lunch break to walk around and take some photos of the changing leaves. I have to say, I was genuinely creeped out while being there. There are men parked EVERYWHERE. Just sitting and staring in the abyss. They gawked and waved at me. One tried to follow me around. I immediately became uncomfortable and left. It is like they have never seen a woman before?! Honestly, these woods are gorgeous and I would love to return, but ladies DO NOT go here by yourself. Even in the day. One day there is going to be something weird that happened here with all of the creeps that just sit around watch women.