dog friendly park

Deer Grove Forest Preserve (Forest Preserves of Cook County)

Overview: Deer Grove Forest Preserve (Forest Preserves of Cook County) is rated 4.7/5 from 976 Google reviews. This nature preserve offers beautiful trails for hiking, walking, and biking, with some trails being paved and others natural. Amenities: Reviewers often mention shade and tree cover. Downsides: Some reviews mention inconsistent cleanliness.

4.7Google rating
976reviews
6photos
Overview

What stands out here

4.7(976 reviews)

Overview: Deer Grove Forest Preserve (Forest Preserves of Cook County) is rated 4.7/5 from 976 Google reviews. This nature preserve offers beautiful trails for hiking, walking, and biking, with some trails being paved and others natural. Amenities: Reviewers often mention shade and tree cover. Downsides: Some reviews mention inconsistent cleanliness.

People say this nature preserve offers beautiful trails for hiking, walking, and biking, with some trails being paved and others natural. They highlight the well-maintained paths, the abundance of wildlife, and the peaceful, less crowded atmosphere. They also like the large area to explore and the connecting trails to other preserves.

Best for

dogs that need room to run

Quick facts

Addressnorth of N Quentin Rd, W Dundee Rd, Palatine Township, IL, USA
Phone(800) 870-3666
City pagePalatine
Imported fromPalatine, IL

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dogs that need room to runnature preservetourist attractionpark6 Google photos976 reviews

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Recent Google review highlights

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Irina Hynes5 months ago

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.

Xavier Alia year ago

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.

Zachary George12 months ago

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!

Aneliya Dimitrovaa year ago

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.

Ryana year ago

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.

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