Illinois Trails

One columnist argues the city's Obama Presidential Center project will violate legendary designer Frederick Law Olmsted's vision.

Several safety measures are now the law, and cycling becomes the official state exercise of Illinois.

Follow as WGN radio correspondent tackles a 40-foot wall.

24 city parks offer free tree drop-off this year.

Negative temps don't deter these hockey players and sledders across Chicagoland.

Local state parks will participate in a nationwide program to inspire people to kick off the new year with a hike.

$5.1 million in grants will help the forest preserves complete missing trail segments within four years.

Breeding season makes the wild canines more visible.

A community group argues the Chicago Park District's plan ignores major developments, such as the future Obama Presidential Center.

Millennium Park's Lurie Garden is just one crucial food source for the pollinators.

Indiana Dunes could become the 60th park in the system.

The joining of two nonprofits should improve natural resource management north of the city.

An outdoor photography talk, whooping crane conservation, outdoor health awards, and more are on tap.

Check out the views along the city's first elevated park and learn how it went from freight line to open space.

Advocates and opponents of these new bike share programs are hashing it out in the Windy City.

The park district's vision for the South Side park includes playgrounds, fitness stations, and lake access.

Cook County Forest Preserves has a few ideas for November fun.

How Cook County Forest Preserve's Web Map tech guides visitors to urban escapes.

New bridges, bike lanes, and crosswalks are among the proposed solutions to a spike in collisions with cars.

The controlled burns help restore ecosystem health to prairie and forest reserves.

The new 33-acre forest is called John Sunman's Woods Nature Preserve.

The historic pathway around Geneva Lake takes all day (and includes brunch).

312 RiverRun will join three parks by a new path along the Chicago River.

An undiscovered 12-acre plot has become a new preserve, which will be a sanctuary for monarch butterflies.

The Chicago Park District received a $900,000 grant to restore wetlands in 278-acre Big Marsh Park.

The Cook County Forest Preserves comprise 69,000-plus acres. WBEZ asks: Whose foresight was it?

Troy Cooper, a Naperville native, is growing his business to include river trips.

The International Dark-Sky Association has a basic requirement: people should be able to see the natural sky.

Check out BACKPACKER Contributors and Editors's author page.

Someone is hanging rope swings in Logan Square Park—the same place a trampoline showed up months ago.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has a few ideas for how to spend a day in southeastern Wisconsin.

Those stray dogs in Cook County could be coyotes with a disease called sarcoptic mange.

The recent feature "These Waters Run Deep" documents days of paddling, wandering, cruising, and conversing along Chicago's iconic waterway.

From Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve to Rock Cut State Park, seven perfect days of hiking and beer.

According to Cook County officials, too many rabid bats have been discovered in the city.

Last year, more than a thousand West Calumet Housing Complex residents were told to relocate. Where are they now?

Starved Rock State Park, Illinois

Chicago Coalition for the Homeless say proposed paths will drive out residents under several Lake Shore Drive bridges.

The west end of the 606 is undergoing "real estate feeding frenzy," leading to displacement. Are recreation trails partly to blame?

Now 22 miles long, the North Branch Trail finally reaches all the way to Gompers Park.

From s'mores trivia and key chains to Elvis s'mores and Andes Mint s'mores, Indiana Dunes does National S'mores Day right.

The top picks range from city parks to far-flung canyons and beaches.

The 24-year-old man fell 60 feet from an off-trail area above Pontiac Canyon.

The outdoor instruments are meant to inspire residents to get involved with music this summer.

Armed robbers have attacked cyclists on the Bloomingdale Trail several times this month.

The landscaped plaza will host weddings and private functions in the South Side's Washington Park.

This year, improved park access helped the Windy City jump higher on the Trust for Public Lands list.

Multiple barriers make safe, easy bike rides harder outside of Chicago.

The free site covers more than 500 miles of water trails in 10 waterways.

WBEZ investigates otter sightings in and around the downtown Chicago River.

Plans for a new South Shore golf course would likely replace a community dog park.

Residents concerned that planned golf development in South Shore would edge out a natural area on the site.

The Divvy program rolls out four food-themed bikes, a membership discount, and plans to expand.

Researchers find the Divvy bike program isn't reaching effectively reaching minority and low-income residents.

First-time anglers get a deep discount to try their luck in Wisconsin lakes this year.

A new analysis finds sewage and runoff overflow into the urban waterway once every six days.

The little brown bat population at Devil's Lake State Park dropped from 200 to 20 in one year thanks to white-nose syndrome.

Park rangers found the body of the missing Chicago-area hiker Friday.

Park staff canvassing Rescue Creek area for a man who vanished Wednesday morning.

Think there's no good hiking near the Windy City? Think again, says our expert.

River Forest native describes how she made it through a week lost in the Great Bear Wilderness outside Glacier National Park.

New Bobolink Meadow Land and Water Reserve preserves 900 acres of primo habitat for grassland birds.

One trail is scheduled to open on August 12, while officials remain hopeful about a second stuck in the negotiation phase.

Walk along Paint Creek in Yellow River State Forest on this overnight backpacking trip and you'll know it's true: Iowa is rugged. BY KOREY PETERSON

Escape the city on these easy-to-reach trips, from after-work jaunts to an overnight paddling trip on the Rock River.

See across the Prairie State from 320-million-year-old sandstone outcrops.

This beautiful 4.3-mile loop adjacent to the Illinois River adds welcome relief--waterfalls, sculpted sandstone canyons, and impressive overlooks--to the usually pancake-flat landscape.

Enjoy the views and solitude of this 9.6 mile out-and-back trek through wind and water-scoured ravines to glacier-carved moraines in southeast Chicago.

This 4.1-mile hike exposes the wilder side of northern Illinois, an untouched 3,000-acre tract filled with wildlife and a gravel cone formed by an ancient stream.

This preserve offers plenty of big city escape. Shady forests, gentle waterfalls, and a lofty vista over the Des Plaines River are just a few stops along this 10.1-mile multi-use loop.

Venture into mosaic of woodlands, prairies, and glacial moraines on this 4-mile trek through a local forest preserve.

Find rugged trails twisting-and-turning through the largest roadless tract within 25 miles of downtown Chicago on this 5.6-miler in the wind and water-scoured ravines of Cook County Forest Preserve's Swallow Cliffs Woods.

Escape the Windy City on this easy 5.9-mile hike through a beautiful hardwood forest into ravines carved by glaciers more than 10,000 years ago.

Escape the land of skyscrapers on this 3.6-mile, fi gure-8 circuit where wildlife-rich wetlands mix with undulating meadows and forested tracts.

Hike or run in an undeveloped pocket of restored prairie and wooded glades on this 4.1-miler through Buffalo Creek Forest Preserve.

Hike 5.9 miles along the most scenic section of the Illinois and Michigan Canal to the convergence of the Illinois and Kankakee Rivers. Heron, egrets and turtles are common.

This 7.3-mile ramble along a serene stream, by old settler ruins, and thorough big woods illustrates why this pocket park is considered one of the most beautiful in Illinois.

On this 6.8-mile loop, you'll find reclaimed prairies, sacred Indian grounds, and scenic overlooks of the lakes and rivers surrounding St. Louis.

Explore a handful of landscapes—prairie, wetlands, lakes—along a winding river on this 9.8-mile out-and- back leg of the Des Plaines River Trail.

Explore wooded bluffs and a dramatic limestone canyon on the way to a waterfall on this 4.8-mile riverside hike in Kankakee River State Park.