5 exceptional McHenry County hikes to explore sights of area

John Fiorina stood under a shelter in a far corner of Veteran Acres Park, a nature preserve near downtown Crystal Lake, on a gusty, sunny day.

“McHenry County is blessed to have all of this land set aside,” he said over the roar of the wind. The word “blessed” troubled him a bit because it can be misinterpreted.

As the manager of the nature center and natural resources at Veteran Acres, he meant McHenry County is fortunate to have had people with the necessary long view of the area’s wild spaces to preserve them. What has been set aside are some of Illinois’ most unique natural features, and they are all within easy reach.

There are thousands of acres of preserved land in McHenry County. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has nearly 5,000 acres. The McHenry County Conservation District owns and manages more than 25,000 acres. Veteran Acres, the crown jewel of the Crystal Lake Park District’s preserved lands, totals 140 acres of explorable space.

Many of these spaces are crisscrossed with trails that take weekend adventurers deep into prairies, marshes, woods, waters, even back to the time when ice age glaciers were retreating.

As the weather warms, consider visiting these parks to exercise your legs and lungs and get a view of some of the best sights McHenry County has to offer.

1.) Veteran Acres Park

431 N. Walkup Ave., Crystal Lake

Information: www.crystallakeparks.org/parks-facilities/veteran-acres.asp

Fiorina, who has been managing Veteran Acres for the past eight years, calls it a “get out and explore it park” with trails throughout it. Along with its own trails, McHenry County Conservation District’s Prairie Trail South also winds through Veteran Acres.

Bounded by Walkup Avenue, Hillside Street and Route 176, what makes Veteran Acres so remarkable is all of its rare natural features, Fiorina said. From a graminoid fen and a gravel hill prairie to what was once a quarry and a pine forest, the park has so many origin stories no one knows which is correct.

Families will enjoy the park because the trails are relatively easy to walk, and there are sights for everyone to see, including deer, rare plants and flowers, blue birds and big red-tailed hawks.

“What’s so remarkable is that you can go less than a mile and go from a park to a woodland to a prairie to a wetland and back,” Fiorina said.

2.) Lake in the Hills Fen

1500 Jefferson St., Lake in the Hills

Information: www.mccdistrict.org/rccms/index.php/lake-in-the-hills-fen/

Another easy-to-get-to park situated close to residential areas and main streets is Lake in the Hills Fen.

With more than a mile’s worth of hard-packed trails, hikers have the opportunity to walk through one of the most high quality nature preserves in Illinois, said Jeff Murray, restoration ecologist at Lake in the Hills Fen.

“The native wildflower diversity and a nice rock outcropping that overlooks one of the nicest fens in Illinois” are some of the key attractions, Murray said. “You can’t see this in many parts of the state. It’s pretty amazing that the site has stayed so high quality.”

Walkers should keep their eyes open for red-tailed hawks, marsh hawks and, later in the summer, compass plants, which are sunflowers that grow nearly 10 feet tall.

3.) Glacial Park Conservation Area

Route 31 & Harts Road, Ringwood

Information: www.mccdistrict.org/rccms/index.php/glacial-park/

Glacial Park is the crown jewel of the McHenry County Conservation District. The district’s most popular, the park features more than 8 miles of trails that take hikers over land created by glaciers more than 10,000 years ago.

Sarah Michehl, education program assistant at the McHenry County Conservation District, suggested people take the 2-mile Deerpath Trail at this time of year.

“It’s a nice, relatively short loop where you see a whole different variety of things,” she said.

“In April and May, you see a huge variety of waterfowl, including Canada geese who like to sit on top of muskrat lodges.”

Michehl said it is easy to keep track of what you are seeing on the trail because of an Illinois-based “Prairie State Hiking App: Featuring Glacial Park,” available on both IOS and Android and downloadable from iTunes App Store or Google Play. It reads codes on sign posts and puts a world of information at visitors’ fingertips.

4.) Moraine Hills State Park

1510 S. River Road, McHenry

Information: www.dnr.state.il.us/lands/landmgt/parks/r2/morhills.htm

More than 10 miles of trails make Moraine Hills popular for hikers.

Three trails, surfaced with crushed limestone, wind their way through the park and offer exceptional scenic and wildlife viewing opportunities. The trails range in length from 2 miles to nearly 4 miles.

To keep you on track, trails are color-coded and one way.

5.) Nippersink Creek

Meanders 18 miles from Wonder Lake to Pistakee Lake. Boat launch at 6500 Keystone Road, Wonder Lake.

Information: www.mccdistrict.org

And now for something completely different.

It’s a recently completed 3.5-mile restoration of the Nippersink Creek, which gives visitors the chance to explore both on water and on land near the creek. “It’s a big deal,” said Kim Compton, education program coordinator at McHenry County Conservation District.

The most recent work adds to 3.5 miles of restoration completed in 2001 on the creek and also targets 507 acres of prairies and wetlands from the center of McHenry County Conservation District’s Glacial Park almost to North Solon Road, continuing where other restoration efforts have left off to the edge of the park’s boundary.

The new section gives paddlers the “opportunity to see beautiful, expansive views” of Glacial Park, Compton said. Seven riffles – slight elevation drops in the creek – were added to give those on the water some excitement. The district recently hosted a 4-mile hike of the creek, which meanders through Glacial Park, to allow hikers to view the restoration, which will affect the area’s wildlife, ecology and recreational activities.

Compton said people should keep an eye out for Bobolink birds, endangered Forster’s terns, even a river otter. Waterproof brochures are available to keep people in the know once they get out on the creek, as well as the Glacial Park hiking app, which is expected to contain some Nippersink Creek trails soon.

More to explore:

Along with the trails mentioned above are a slew of others calling your name.

• Marengo features Coral Woods, a 297-acre maple forest with several trails through trees and meadow, and Marengo Ridge's looped nature trails through oak, hickory and maple forest.

• The Hollows in Cary overlooks the 22-acre Lake Atwood.

• Woodstock's Pleasant Valley spans 5 miles of trails within 1,777 acres of woodlands, savanna and prairie.

• Hickory, white and red oaks border the trails in Harvard's Rush Creek.

For information on other McHenry County trails, visit www.mccdistrict.org and www.dnr.illinois.gov.