This picnic grounds is the site we went to in the late'50's & beyond! It was called the Lanigan…read morepicnic where my father & uncle grew up being good friends with the Lanigans & others in the Englewood area in the 1930's & 1940's. It's a beautiful spot for a picnic with room for some softball games,races for the kids.While we kids were having a blast playing,the grownups revilled in reminiscing of old times together amid boisterous laughter from funny stories.Cold beer flowed from the legs with some Irish songs being heartily belted out!

Wonderful trail, easy to socially distance, beautiful and well maintained. The parking lot is large…read moreand it's easy to get in and out of.

I've been coming here for twenty years ! What is happening ? There is garbage on the ground .. this…read moreplace is filthy ! Have you run out of funds ? No one wants to see garbage all over the place .. do better Orland Park

Pool and entire aquatic experiance is great but they need to do something about their drowning…read moreprotocol because a life guard decided to jump in and "save" my younger brother when he was just getting up for air after a jump. I kid you not the life guard was watching him as well and all he did was jump in the deep end of the pool, he was coming up for air and they blew their whistle and jumped in to, again, "save" him when he didn't need saving at all. They put him in unwanted distress and embarrassed him, made him cry because he was coming up for air. Thankfully there were other lifeguards around who understood the situation and assured us nothing was wrong but what happened was just ridiculous.

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.

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

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.

Nice small beach yet crowded because of the air show. Parking is plentiful and you can bring your…read morejet skis here. Lifeguards on duty and there are tables for eating along with benches scattered everywhere to take in the views.

One of the benefits of living in Whiting is having this beautiful park near…read more It's great for a walk any time of year. You can find some interesting fossils along the beach & I have a nice collection of beach glass too.

Nice place to relax and fishing Up to the person good for…read moreeveryone and every weather lol for me personally it's a nice place to relax

An amazingly beautiful park along the Chicago Boulevards which linked a series of parks from Palmer…read moreSquare to Hyde Park. Many of the greenbelts have been disrupted by roads, highways, and in one case a prison, yet the heart of the parkway system still endure in these great large city parks. This park is almost pristine. It is truly one of the prettiest parks I have been to in the city - it lacks the build up and major restoration projects you see elsewhere, but something about it is just perfect. But..... There is only one entrance on Garfield Boulevard (55th), and one on the east side of the park. The day I was here the people in the park were nice, and I was able to go for a walk without any trouble. This is a park that reminds me of Humboldt Park in say 1995 when I remember seeing cars abandoned in the park. There were no abandoned cars, but other than the youth events going on in the parks and recreation building, there was not a lot going on - no joggers, etc. It is not that sort of area. My visit was disrupted by dozens of cop cars flying down the Western side of the park (outside the park) at full speed. I was told by a woman who walked past with her kids "there must have been a shooting south of Garfield Boulevard.." before she said "you're safe in here!" I felt safe. This reminded me of my visits to Humboldt Park in 1995 when I was dating a woman who had a friend whose parents had a mansion on the Boulevard which they paid $60,000 for. It was really a mansion. We spent the day walking the then run down paths of Humboldt Park, before our mutual friend's dad said we better spend the rest of the night hanging out in the fenced back yard off the Boulevard. Cities can change, and I would definitely check this park out next time I drive down Garfield Boulevard on my way to midway. Having good parks like this one helps a lot since the kids programs were well attended, well staffed, and supervised as far as I could tell walking past.

Underrated and beautiful. It's got a fantastic view of the city skyline and there's a whole…read moreindustrial vibe going on but I don't mind it. It's serene and if it wasn't so warm I'd go to it more often. It's good for a long walk but there's no trees along that walk so I'll be frequenting more in the fall va the summer.

Check out this incredible transformation of a quarry into a park in Bridgeport. In between it was a…read morelandfill. Palmisano Park has went through a lot of changes to be sure. A lot of nature of course. There's trails and an interpretive wetlands among the many things to come across while going through. Best to know about the transformation before going. It used to be the Stearns Quarry. The city purchased it in 2008, cleaned it up, and opened it the next year. Has lots of nature to see and more to do. There's more than a mile of paths, including recycled timber boardwalks, and walkways. At first this was the site of a coral reef if you can believe it. Limestone was formed, and there's been fossils discovered here that are now in the Field Museum. In the 1830s it became a quarry, and operated until 1970 when it became a landfill. There's a fishing pond that still has the old quarry walls. After opening this park there was cause for celebration. The community before this had a lack of green space. Have to go here if you like parks that have been restored from abandoned areas. It's quite impressive. There's all kinds of plants and wildlife.