Des Plaines Riverway

The 87-acre Des Plaines Riverway Forest Preserve in Burr Ridge is comprised of wet and wet-mesic bottomland forest, marsh, shrub and tallgrass meadows, vernal ponds and a creek and the Des Plaines Riverway Nature Preserve. It features oaks, elms, ashes and diverse groundcovers, including some rare plant species. 

Natural Scene

Des Plaines Riverway represents the county's finest example of wet and wet-mesic bottomland forest and supports populations of state-endangered or threatened plants and birds, including marsh speedwell, cerulean warblers, black-crowned night-herons and black-billed cuckoos. Numerous Illinois species in greatest need of conservation and regionally rare amphibians, birds and native plants have also been found here.

In 2012 the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission gave the entire forest preserve an extra level of protection by designating it as the Des Plaines Riverway Nature Preserve.

Driving Directions

Des Plaines Riverway is just north of the Des Plaines River east of Madison Street. It does not have a parking lot.