McCormick Woods Trail

The project has been split into two separate phases with the first beginning in March 2017 and consisting of tree removal along the route of the proposed path. The path construction is scheduled to begin in summer 2018. 

Today, the 612-acre St. James Farm Forest Preserve features more than 100 acres of woodlands, prairies and wetlands that are home to over 300 native plant species and wildlife like great blue herons, red-bellied woodpeckers, white-breasted nuthatches, coyotes, fox squirrels and white-tailed deer. Agricultural fields border these ecosystems on the north and south.

Near the northern border of the preserve flowing east to west is Spring Brook, a tributary of the West Branch DuPage River. In 2015 the District completed an ecological restoration of 2.3 miles of the Spring Brook floodplain that runs in part through St. James Farm connecting the creek to the floodplain, allowing nutrient-rich floodwaters to flow into surrounding forest preserves and newly created wetlands. As part of this project a pedestrian bridge was constructed over the waterway in anticipation of the construction of a multi-use path in the future.