Lyman Woods: August 11, 2012

Lyman woods is located right across from the home office building of my work, so I've seen the sign for the entrance and had heard of it quite a bit, and decided it was time to give it a try. No one had really prepared me for the adventure that was ahead.

First of all, it is a very beautiful place. It is set up so that there are different areas- oak woods, prairie land, marshes. I can imagine that it would be beautiful no matter what season you go, as there's enough variety that the leaves in the fall, the bare trees and ice filled swampland in the winter, the flowers in the spring, and all of the green life of summer will blow you away. A great spot for a nature photographer.

That being said, I would NOT recommend this place for families with strollers. There are NO paved trails. The trails range from dirt to small areas with mowed grass, and many parts include tree roots as thick as your arm. One of our strollers (the one for our oldest boy-who's almost 3) was creaking so much that I was afraid it would fall apart on the trail!

If you are just on foot, I think the trail would be a lot easier and more attractive. There are portions that get steep, but it's mostly level terrain. And for those people who work across the street, it's the perfect location for a quick stroll and picnic lunch (the picnic area is quite nice).

Overall we are planning to return, but not until the boys are big enough to walk on their own!

Lake Renwick - August 4, 2012

Since we were going down for a birthday party in the area, we planned on stopping by this preserve before the party for lunch and a walk. Well, we didn't get ready on time, so we stopped before for lunch, but had to wait until after the party for our walk. It rained in the afternoon so by the time we came back it was slightly cooler, but mostly humid and lots of Mosquitos. We probably won't try this one again unless we're in the area.

The gazebos are very nice- we ate lunch in one. No tables, just benches, but one is right on a fishing pier, another has a nice view of Turtle Lake, and a third is surrounded by the wild grasses. There may have been more, but those were the ones we saw. It was heron mating season so we did see some herons in the distance. The trails were paved and relatively level. Lots of bikers at the time we came, but the path is wide enough that there weren't any collisions. We looped around one area that was 1.25 miles and then went partway down the 2 mile path that goes to another parking area. Very peaceful, very pretty, but too many bugs.

Blackwell Forest Preserve: July 28, 2012

This may have been my favorite 10,000 steps this summer so far! Blackwell is in Wheaton, IL just off of Butterfield Rd and Winfield. It was a gorgeous mid-80 degree day, and we packed a picnic lunch of wraps and berries to take with us.

After eating our lunch and running around a little bit with our nearly 3-year old, we decided it was time to try and climb the mountain. Mt Hoy is 836 feet above sea level and used to be a landfill. It has a gravel path running up one side that makes the climb a little easier, and an alternative steeper grass path on another side. The gravel path was not very stroller friendly, but we decided to try it anyway rather than carrying our 4 month old, and I carried the nearly 3 year old's stroller while he walked. It was slow going on the .5 mile climb, but we were in no rush. Our 3 year old collected rocks from the path to throw into the nearby bushes, and we zigzagged to get the stroller up the mountain. The view from the top was very nice, and it's also fenced off so we didn't need to worry about our 3 year old falling down the steeper sides.

After walking back down the mountain, we drove over to another area in order to get close to the entrance of a walking path. Horses are allowed on the path, and we had the joy of walking behind a pair for a short while. The riders got a kick out of our 3 year old pointing and yelling "cow!" Luckily they took a side path before he had to see them create any road apples, but we did come across a few piles later on and passed by them to the chorus of "ew! Smells!"

The trail we took goes past a few small ponds, an archery range (currently closed), and then into a nice wooded area. The path was gravel and well maintained, so a nice smooth ride for the strollers. It goes across a creek and continues north to another part of the preserve, I think I read that the trail totals were about 8 miles. We turned around after approximately 1.5 miles and headed back to the car.

All in all a beautiful place for a walk, and we will definitely come back for another try at a different trail and possibly future camping trips!