Where to go for a walk today (Elmhurst, Palos Hills: house, to live)

[jahk]

It's Easter, the sun is shining, it's warm, and I'm not on call.

I want to go for a nice peaceful walk, but I want a new place to go.

I've been on the Lakefront trail from the loop or Streeterville, and it's very nice. I like seeing the lake up close. But to get there I have to deal with expensive parking or public transit and a walk through busy streets.

I've gone out the the forest preserve around Palos Hills where we used to live. That's a great place to go, easy to put my car somewhere, nice trails, and not many other people out so I can clear my head of city noise and crowds. But the drive there down I-55 is dull, and there's not much else I would want to do nearby to justify driving that far.

So where else is there to go for a walk of roughly an hour, outside of the business or commercial zones, preferably with some non-manmade scenery? Is the lakefront trail up near Rogers Park worth going for, and what's the parking situation?

Any other parks in the city or near 'burbs that could fool me into thinking I'm not in one of the biggest cities in the country?

[chet everett]

Runs through many Forest Preserves in western Cook and DuPage Co. Parking is probably easiest / free near Elmhurst .
Illinois Prairie Path. North America's first successful rails-to-trails conversion. Founded 1963. Over 60 miles of dedicated hiking, biking and equestrian access.

[ToriaT]

Morton Arboreteum, St. James Farm on Butterfield Rd. and Blackwell Forest Preserve west of there. Herrick Lake, also around there.

[knitgirl]

Originally Posted by jahk

So where else is there to go for a walk of roughly an hour, outside of the business or commercial zones, preferably with some non-manmade scenery? Is the lakefront trail up near Rogers Park worth going for, and what's the parking situation?

I was just there yesterday, up at the north end of Rogers Park. There's metered parking (cheap) by the field house on Greenleaf. I think during the day it's not too tough to find parking on a side street, especially during the cooler months. The beach was populated, but not with hordes of people. The pros of it up there is that if you live east of Sheridan, you are steps away from the sand. The cons for you might be that there isn't a huge park dividing the lake from buildings. We had a very nice walk with the dog. I was expecting it to be cold by the lake, but I just wore a light hoodie and was totally comfortable.

[jahk]

I was just there yesterday, up at the north end of Rogers Park.

We might have seen each other. I ended up going to Devon for Indian food, then meeting a friend who lives up in Rogers Park and walking along the shore. We passed a little garden with a patch of blooming crocuses. It reassured me that warmer weather is on the way.

Street parking on Howard was no problem. But as I was putting my money in the parking pay box, a police car pulled up diagonally behind me with lights on, and the officer got out with his gun out. My first thought was , 'All I did was make a U-turn in the middle of the block, is this really necessary?' Then I realized he was looking at and yelling at a car well behind mine. When I told my friend what happened, he said 'Oh, yeah, that sort of thing happens here all the time.'

[knitgirl]

We probably did!