This longtime stable nearby in Tinley Park, in operation since the 1950s, has a vast array of nature preserves in its backyard.

Many of them are connected by the extensive Tinley Creek trail system, which runs just steps away from Forest View Farms.

You can’t pick a better place to take a peaceful trail walk, private or group. Pony rides are available at Forest View Farms, and the barn offers lessons, rentals, sleigh rides, and boarding.

You can also take the kids to the petting farm with friendly goats, pigs, chickens, llamas, a mini horse and a mini donkey, and the fall festival each October brings a haunted hayride.

Sand Ridge Nature Center

This educational nature attraction is run by the Cook County Forest Preserve. It is located on a 585-acre campus designed for recreation as well as learning about the natural and cultural history of the area.

Inside, the Sand Ridge Nature Center informs you about the ecology of the Calumet region, and you can get an up-close look at local inhabitants, fish, birds, turtles, and snakes in aquariums, aviaries, and terrariums.

There’s a natural play area for children, a series of demonstration gardens and replica log cabins, and you can head out along four miles of nature trails, through marshes, prairies and forests.

Gensburg-Markham Prairie Nature Preserve

In Harvey, you’re never far from restorative nature, and this large stretch of high-quality tallgrass prairie is a short hop to the west.

It is part of a 2,500-acre prairie within Markham that is under the care of Northeastern Illinois University and The Nature Conservancy.

Due to the wet, sandy soils, the land in the Gansburg-Markham Prairie Nature Preserve was deemed unsuitable for farming, leaving a tall grass prairie.

The unusual soils also give rise to many rare native plant species, such as the herbaceous pink orchid, narrow-leaved sundew, and sunshine dot.

After acquiring the land in the early 70s, the university began restoration by removing invasive exotic plants, and now wildlife native to the tallgrass prairie, such as the Henslow’s sparrow, has been recorded here.

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The Kickapoo Forest and the mile of the Little Calumet River that meanders along it are part of the historic, industrial, residential and natural Calumet region. Stretching from South Chicago to Gary, Indiana, the Calumet region combines vibrant communities, industrial plants, drawbridges, and important wetlands, oak savannas, and prairies.

This region has a rich history spanning centuries. Long before the arrival of Europeans, the area was home to Native American tribes. As stated in the work of Byg, Garner, Gordon, Parts and Weiner, “The Calumet region was long home to tribes belonging to the Algonquin groups around the Great Lakes. The main inhabitants of the region were the Miami and Potawatomi, and neighboring tribes interacted with local groups through trade or migration.”

In collaboration with the Center for the American Indian and the Fifth House Ensemble, Friends of the Chicago River hosts workshops and performances that use deep listening techniques to raise awareness of the environment. These events integrate local practices to explore the relationship between people and nature. Videos of the workshops are available on our YouTube channel.

The Sounds of the Chicago River project combines modern and traditional deep listening techniques with local conservation, music making, and storytelling. Sixto Franco, one of the members of the Fifth House Ensemble, explains: “In these workshops, we explore how nature inspires music and art, and how the sounds of nature can be better integrated into new compositions.” These performances are supported in part by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.

Kickapoo Forest offers many ways to get healthy and relax. You can:

• Canoe the Little Calumet River and explore the Kickapoo Forest from the water. This is a great place for beginner paddlers;
• Hike or bike the one-mile loop trail alone or with your dog, friends, or family;
• Bird and animal watching;
• Watch model airplanes at the model airplane field or join in the fun with your own model airplane;
• Have a picnic;
• Volunteer to help restore the ecosystem with Centennial Volunteers. You can help remove invasive plant species that threaten to crowd out native flora and fauna. Trained leaders will show you how to identify alien plants and safely remove them using hand tools.

The Kikapu Forest is the perfect place to enjoy nature, rejuvenate and gain new experiences.

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The Gensburg-Markham Prairie is a large natural area of wet and dry mesic prairie, sand prairie, and sedge meadows characteristic of the Chicago Plain in the northeastern portion of the Moraine Natural Area. The Chicago Plain was formed when the Chicago Glacial Lake retreated at the end of the Wisconsin Glaciation. When the water receded, it left behind deposits of clay and sand. Wet areas of the preserve are covered with clay, while drier areas are covered with sand. The ancient beach ridge formed by this lake extends from southeast to northeast across the preserve, creating a variety of topography.

Gensburg-Markham Prairie provides a unique example of sandy loam prairie, combining characteristics of black silt prairie and true sand prairie. The preserve includes rare plant species such as grape fern, primrose, narrow-leaved dewberry, and pink orchid. Other significant sand prairie plants found here include rootwort, yellow-eye, rifleweed, and blueberry. The dominant grasses are big bluestem, Indian grass, and prairie seed drop. Typical black soil plant species found here include drooping onion, wild indigo, prairie coreopsis, and prairie root.

Of particular note are nesting birds such as short-billed marsh wren, bobolink, swamp sparrow, and Henslow’s sparrow.

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