Forest View Farms

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.