Deer Grove Forest Preserve (Forest Preserves of Cook County)

Great job on controlling invasives, congrats FPDCC! Especially since neighboring Palatine clearly thinks buckthorn hedges are great, and nearby Lake County forest preserves are crawling with it. Deer Grove is a lovely forest preserve.

It's a nice place to walk. long trails. Was able to see a few families of deer at different points throughout the trail. Lots of markers to help guide you. There were both paved and unpaved trails to explore that led to ponds. Saw frogs and other wildlife as well.

Deer Grove West is the gold standard for forest preserves across the Chicago area. What sets Deer Grove West apart from many Lake County Forest Preserves is that almost all of Deer Grove West is healthy and mature woodland or forest habitat. Because Deer Grove West was the first Chicagoland forest preserve, many of its trees are the oldest and most majestic you can find. Additionally, years of hardwork and investment by volunteers and the staff at the Forest Preserves of Cook County have removed much of the invasive brush that plagues all forest preserves in our area. The result is that visitors to this preserve can observe what many original woodland habitats may have looked like in early Illinois. There are beautiful wildflowers and grasses that are lit from the sun even at the forest floor and views of tall oaks hundreds of feet out in all directions in the woodland. If you are a dog walker, hiker, or biker Deer Grove West has a main yellow unpaved loop and orange paved trail, both of decent quality. The yellow unpaved trail can get muddy. The central orange trail is paved, but not in the greatest condition. If you love exploring preserves more intimately on small rugged unpaved paths, there are also many small unpaved trails that are not mapped that you can use to explore the preserve further, but you can't bike on those paths. For those interested in more varied landscapes such as prairie or savanna ecosystems, Deer Grove East is your better option. Overall, Deer Grove Preserves are some of my favorite preserves. I highly recommend exploring them!

This has been a favorite location in Chicago while I lived in the north suburbs. The forest is spacious, there is a lake which when the water level drops down, unfortunately, looks like a swamp. The tall trees around nest a colony of picturesque large birds. There are plenty of trails for hikers, some for bikers and horseriding. It is hilly with plenty of picnic tables in the 5 groves.

Went to Deer Grove looking for Fall foliage and was not disappointed. On the trails I found some amazing maple trees with the most beautiful orange leaves. I will be returning to this place every October.