Nature's Storytellers

A Blog About Nature in Our DuPage Forest Preserves

Halloween Happenings

Looking for some “spooktacular” fun in October? Look no further than DuPage forest preserves! From haunted hikes and wagon rides to pumpkin stories and rhymes for little ones, we’ve got a thrilling lineup of Halloween happenings this year, so register soon!
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Celebrate OAKtober!

OAKtober is Illinois’ monthlong celebration of oak trees and the things that make them great. We love oaks here at the DuPage Forest Preserve District, so we’re thrilled to be a part of it! 
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Stressed Out? We've Got Just the Thing

Still recovering from 2020? If you’re like most people, the stress of the pandemic, working from home and e-learning has taken its toll.
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What Do Bees Do in the Winter?

One of the more frequent questions we beekeepers are asked is “What do bees do in the winter?”
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Six Hiking Essentials

on 11/17/20 10:39 AM By | Dave Andrusyk | 0 Comments | Insider Trails Health and wellness Recreation Take 5 Nature
Whether you’re new to hiking or a regular walker on DuPage forest preserve’s 166 miles of trails, there are at least 6 essentials you should bring with you every time you head out on a hike.
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Walking in the Rain

Have you ever planned a hiking trip at a DuPage forest preserve, only to find out that the sunny nice day you were planning has turned into a grey, rainy day?
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Five Ways to Relax in DuPage Forest Preserves

With all that’s happening in the world this year, it helps to find ways to take time for ourselves and relax. And it’s good for you!
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Restoring a Creek's Meander

on 3/18/20 4:19 PM By | Scott Meister | 0 Comments | Insider Locations Trails Natural resources Plants Wildlife Nature
For many years, Spring Brook — as it flows through Blackwell Forest Preserve — has been channelized. That is, water flowed within a straight, narrow channel, which led to erosion along the streambanks.
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Turning to Nature in a Time of Turmoil

Many of us are staying in our homes as the COVID-19 global pandemic has led to quarantines, closures and social distancing.
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A New Way to Help Patrol Preserves

on 7/9/19 1:19 PM By | Forest Preserve District of DuPage County | 0 Comments | Insider Locations Trails
DuPage Forest Preserve Police have a new partner to help them patrol the preserves – an all-terrain vehicle.
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Protect Yourself from Ticks While Outdoors

on 5/23/19 9:25 AM By | Andres Ortega | 0 Comments | Insider Trails Health and wellness Wildlife Nature
We need to talk. It’s going to be awkward, it’s a subject we’d all like to avoid, but it’s best for everyone if we just put it out there: ticks are all around you.
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Our Top 10 Things to Do to #OptOutside

Between the Thanksgiving dinner prep and holiday shopping, get outdoors  to experience the physical, emotional and spiritual rewards of spending time in nature. Today an ever-growing body of scientific research finds that nature is good for the body, mind and spirit. Nature makes us healthier, sharper and even happier, too! 
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Forest Fave: Willowbrook Butterfly Garden

When Willowbrook Wildlife Center site manager Sandy Fejt needs a break from caring for injured native wildlife at the center, she doesn’t have to look far. One of Sandy’s favorite spots at the Glen Ellyn forest preserve is the butterfly garden. She helped with the original design of the garden and loves to teach visitors the benefits of creating a garden out of native plants. Sandy plays a large part in the District’s mission to grow and maintain milkweed plants to provide habitat and food for the struggling monarch butterfly population. 
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Forest Fave: Meacham Grove

When ranger Sarah Rosenberg needs to reconnect with nature, she stops at Meacham Grove Forest Preserve in Bloomingdale. She especially loves the excellent hiking trails at the 255-acre preserve, which features woodland groves, meadows, a fishing lake, wetlands, the meandering Spring Brook Creek and the Meacham Grove Nature Preserve. 
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Trail Segment Connects Two Counties

on 6/4/18 11:23 AM By | Forest Preserve District of DuPage County | 0 Comments | Locations Trails Recreation
The Forest Preserve Districts of DuPage and Will opened a 1.25-mile trail connecting Greene Valley Forest Preserve in Naperville to Whalon Lake Forest Preserve in Bolingbrook on June 1, 2018. Officials from the two forest preserve districts gathered for a ribbon-cutting at Whalon Lake, just where the trail extension meets up to the preserve’s looped trail.
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New McDowell Grove Bridge Reopens

Forest Preserve District of DuPage County officials celebrated the opening of the new two-lane entrance bridge at McDowell Grove Forest Preserve in Naperville at a May 29 ribbon-cutting ceremony at the preserve on Raymond Drive.
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Forest Fave: Fullersburg Woods and Graue Mill

Visitors expect to encounter nature and native wildlife at DuPage forest preserves, but it’s a bonus to experience history firsthand as well. Fullersburg Woods Forest Preserve in Oak Brook does just that with its Graue Mill and Museum, located in the southern corner of the preserve. The historic waterwheel gristmill open for the 2018 season on April 17. It closes for the season in mid-November with its finale “Christmas at the Mill” holiday boutique.
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Snow Plowing and Trail Grooming in the Preserves

on 1/16/18 1:06 PM By | Forest Preserve District of DuPage County | 0 Comments | Insider Locations Trails
DuPage forest preserves are a magical sight to behold after a freshly fallen snow. We know many of you can’t wait to get out there to see the magnificent beauty, but sometimes it’s hard to know what parking lots will be plowed first and what trails will be groomed first for cross-country skiing.
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A Walk in the Woods with Our Four-Legged Friends

Strolling through a forest preserve is great; walking with a best friend through a forest preserve is the best. I have a few best friends, but when I want to walk alone but not all the way alone, I love to bring my six-year-old dog, Jacob.
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Fall in Love with Fall in Our Preserves

Fall in DuPage County kicks off with the goldenrod bloom in September, and it’s the first sign that 90-degree days are coming to an end, in a predestined nod to the tipping planet.
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