Forest Park Nature Center

Review Date: September 29th, 2013 I remember coming here a few times as a kid on field trips. It was awesome as kid. They taught us about animals, bugs, nature and everything else outdoorsy. Then we got to hike a smaller trail as a group. Maybe this is what caused me to be such an avid outdoors person. Coming back here after about 2 decades was a huge nostalgic trip. Nothing had changed from what I remember as a kid. I’m sure things have been changed and updated since the early 90’s, but it still retained that feel and look I remember as kid. The main building has set hours, but I do believe you can hike there before they open, as long as you follow the rule of ‘no hiking before sunrise and after sunset’. Don’t quote me on that. Inside the building is a small gift shop. There are quite a few learning activity areas to enrich yourself on local foliage and fauna. They hold a lot of events here, so you are surely able to drop in once a week and encounter some fun activity going on. There are plenty of trails to hike. If you want a quick hike, they have short trails. If you desire something challenging, you can hike some tough trails. Just be careful, I know a few people who have wandered off the path and ended up in a business area of Peoria Heights. The last time I was there, they had a 100-mile hike challenge. It was $10-15 to sign up and you record your hiking distances in a book there. Once you reach 100 miles, you get an award of some sort. I think it was a t-shirt and a certificate. Ive been wanting to sign up for it since I learned about it. But life gets busy. :/ Parking is plentiful but be warned; its a popular place, so there is usually a good amount of cars there at all time. But you shouldn’t have a problem most of the time finding a parking spot. If you are native to the area and haven’t been here, do yourself a favor and check it out. If yo are from out of town, also do yourself a favor and stop by for a quick hike. You won’t regret it.

I took my daycare kiddos to the Forest Park Nature Center for a free nature hike for young children which was organized by Susie (from the library). There we meet another Susie and Carrie. Carrie took us around the trail were we saw much wildlife and beautiful plants, she was also very knowledgeable about her plants too with was nice! During our hike we were in the shade alot so we didn't have to worry too much about getting overheated. Afterwards we went back to the center and Carrie pulled out a turtle so the kiddos have some one on one interaction. Found out that the beautiful tree (that is inside the building) was actually created by the same company that created the "Tree of life" at Disneyland which is beyond cool! There were also some very cool pictures and things to learn from inside! Thank you everyone for all the hard work you do and for providing this free activity for my littles!

Amazing hiking trails. On the strenuous side, hill-wise, with lots of rest areas. So much wildlife late June around dusk. Turkeys, deer, squirrels, many birds calling. Wonderful tree variety. Trails are well marked. Robin's Wake is the farthest in but well worth it if you have the time! It was remarkably uncrowded when I went, saw maybe a handful of other hikers in the two hours I was there.

Went for a nice walk in this trail. Got to see some deer, squirrels, and a few different birds. Very nice to walk it during this time of the year. Nice shade provided by the tall trees and the cool air of fall made the walk super enjoyable. Would definetely recommend it to others. Is like a 3 mile loop and I had forgotten my walking tennis shoes wh3n we flew in so only had flip flops for the walk. So that's what I used for it and was pretty good. Besides getting my feet a little dusty from the dirt in the trail lol Is a very easy trail in my opinion. I would suggest it to others, espcially family with kids since the trail is pretty begginer type.