Winter 1999

Winter wonderland offers tubing, ice skating and cross-country ski-trails

Will County, Illinois

Goodenow Grove Nature Preserve in far eastern Will County offers its greatest recreational bounty after Old Man Winter graces Chicago Wilderness with his presence. Opportunities abound for cross-country skiing, ice-skating, sledding, and winter hiking.

More than four miles of cross-country ski trails traverse the diverse terrain of Goodenow's 689-acres of oak-hickory forest interspersed with hills and open grasslands. A wide and steep hill near the preserve's Plum Creek Nature Center is ideal for sledding when there is enough snow. Visitors can borrow truck inner tubes to use on the hill for the day merely by placing a driver's license on file (the license is returned after the tube is turned in).

"It's a lot of fun. You can fit three kids on one tube," said Emily Theil, interpretive naturalist with the Forest Preserve District of Will County, noting that as many as 1,000 people come to the hill on busy weekend days. "When they get to the bottom, the kids roll off and tumble in the snow."

Staff on hand supervise the hill and stand ready to help in case something happens, Theil said. The Nature Center doubles as a warming station where the staff offers free coffee, hot water, and cups for making hot chocolate. Don't forget your own cocoa powder.

An ice-skating pond is also nearby, but all Blackhawk wannabes are advised to call in advance. Skating is allowed only when the ice is at least 4 inches thick.

The Nature Center is also home to the Discovery Den and Earth Care Center, good options for winter's coldest days. In the Discovery Den, young children can make their own spider web and play with animal puppets, such as the tadpole that turns into a frog or the moth that changes into a butterfly. A microscope table is set up for examining snake skins and such. They can also use the balance table to see how many rocks equal feathers.

The Earth Care Center is adult-oriented offering displays on acid rain and landfill dilemmas. Many brochures are on hand for the taking, Theil said.

A hike through the woods offers the opportunity to spot deer, or at least their tracks, and birds as common as chickadees and cardinals to downy woodpeckers. One might be able to spot a great horned owl nesting high in the tallest of trees in January, Theil said. Barred and screech owls also call Goodenow home.

"Winter is the best time here because you can see through the bushes and find all kinds of things that you can't see any other time of the year," Theil said. "You can see the deer tracks and their trails. You can see where they laid for the night. You can be the first one on the trail and have your tracks be the first ones in the snow."

All preserves in Will County are open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The Plum Creek Nature Center is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. If there is enough snow for sledding, the nature center is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Call (708) 946-2216 for more information.

— Benjamin Cox