Greene Valley County Forest Preserve

This forest preserve is absolutely gorgeous, and there’s a lot here to explore. There are about 8 trails, with lots of spurs, connectors and shortcuts. There are also ZERO trail markers. Considering that the trail maps have beautifully detailed color coded trails, you’d think the Forest Preserve District could slap up some color coded mile markers. Unfortunately, I spent the majority of my bike ride stopping to consult my map every few tenths of a mile. Total buzzkill.

Avoid avoid avoid!!! I have to second the warnings about mosquitos. «Swarm» is not an understatement!!! They formed clouds around our heads and followed us down the trail with dozens landing on us at one time. Two of us were wearing bug spray. The third wasn’t. It didn’t make a difference to these mosquitos. We all left with bites all over our bodies. The trails looked nice enough but we gave up less than half way in.

I first went to the main trail. It was 2.7 miles. I figured it would be an easy walk. I was a little shocked at first that there was no trees on the first part of the trail, you know, it being a forest preserve and all. Just when I started to worry there was no shade, I found some. And then I was swarmed by mosquitos. It’s woodlands so I didn’t see any standing water, but I’m guessing there had to be some. I ended up running half the trail because the mosquitos were so intense. At any given time I would have 60 swarming me. Most weren’t trying to bite me because of the bug spray, but they were still hitting my arms and legs as I walked and ran. I am not a fan of these little blood suckers and it was a little intimidating. The worst part is that I didn’t spray down my head or neck with bug spray. This became a prime target for the mosquitos.
These little blood suckers harassed me all the way through the trail. Once back in my car I decided to go to Hawk Trail. This is where you can climb to the top of the hill to see the skyline. I was hoping to catch it around sunset. I got out of my car and was in disbelief that my car was covered in hundreds of mosquitos. I sprayed more bug spray on myself and started towards the trail. To my dismay, the trail was blocked off. There was no sign except the posted hours that it should be open. Two men were walking up to the trail shirtless. I stopped and asked them if they knew why it was closed off. They had no idea. I asked if they brought bug spray. They said no and shrugged like it was no big deal. Then I pointed at their chests and told them they might want to get some. They looked down and both started near dancing/​swatting at themselves. They ended up running back to their car.
This hike was a serious disappointment.

Awesome place to go for 4^th of July. You can see dietitian all over the place. It was free but you have to call ahead and reserve your spot. My wife is a photographer and we always do something cool for pictures on the 4^th.

One of the best forest preserves in the county, for sure! As someone else stated, this used to be a garbage dump. Now it’s just one of the prettiest, most scenic places in all of DuPage. Running here is pretty fun– the trail is full of soft rolling hills and there’s plenty of shade for those hot summer days. When I’m feeling particularly ambitious I will run up the hill that overlooks the whole area– on a clear day you can see downtown Chicago and out to Oswego without a problem.
There are lots of places to park, and the trail has a ton of good spurs to keep the environment interesting. People are very considerate here too. Overall a great place to see the fall colours, or train for a race.

You’ll find me here first thing in the morning on any given Saturday. An entrance is conveniently located right across the street from where I live and the trail is an awesome workout. I love that it takes me past the dog park, where I can dream about one day having a house with a yard and a dog of my own.
Like others have mentioned, the trails are kept very clean (other than the occasional dog doo — people, pick up after your dogs!) and I don’t see any of the shady business that you’ll sometimes find in public parks. It’s just a nice, secluded place to commune with nature and get your blood pumpin’ in the great outdoors. It also looks like a nice place to have family reunions and picnics.
Kudos to the folks who work to keep the preserve lovely! We appreciate it.

One of my favorite places for running with a nice mix of hills and flat sections. Head on back beyond the small house and you’ll find some off road trails. May through October they open the gates to the big hill which is fun to climb on foot or mountain bike. The view from the top, on a clear day, can reveal the Chicago skyline.

This trail is awesome. My dogg and I are on it prob 4x a week and just love it. Unlike some other trails in the area, this one doesn’t have (many of) your typical forest preserve creepos and I’m talking about the ones that back their cars into the parking spaces. These trails are pretty well maintained, virtually no garbage on them, with the obligatory occasional pile of dogg dukey (pick up your dog shit people!!!). There are areas with inclines and declines and plenty of level ground. This trail is great for walking, jogging, biking and whatever else you can think of doing on a trail.

I love taking my kids through this stretch of wild… the hill is kind of blank grass, but the park itself is great.
As an additional note if you go down green road north hang a right and go past the quarry. There are a couple more parks there on the left.
twin rivers park or something like that. It has several evergreens, and a gazebo.
ANYWAY, it has a great little river offshoot pond with a small white covered bridge just big enough for two. It’s the perfect spot for a romantic sunset.
p. s. — great for pictures, lots of sandpipers

Say what you will about former garbage dump sites turned into forest preserves, but I think Greene Valley is tops!
The BF and I love to hike here in the warm weather months. The last time we came we saw 3 snakes in the first 3 minutes of arriving… and one, a little Garter guy, tried to jump at me… too bad he was the size of a worm and made it too easy to scoop him up from the road with a sport cap and plop him in the forest. Candice –1, Snakie– 0
Among the many fun things to do here besides hike 1,411 acres of land and 11 miles of trails, you can cross county ski in winter, bring your horse to ride (not me, I never got my pony), bicycle… if I knew how to ride a bike (yep, you’re reading that correctly. I’m living proof it’s possible to unlearn how to ride a bike), go birding, take your dog to the off leash area, or my very favorite, drive or hike to the top of the Greene Valley (garbage) hill for an amazing view of the Chicago skyline and the best place to enjoy a perfect little picnic, while also seeing some of the coolest kites and model airplanes ever being flown by professional hobbyists.
Oh, and don’t forget your binoculars for some great wildlife watching. Greene Valley is chock full of waterfowl, shorebirds, fishies, toads and frogs, red foxes, coyotes, meadowlarks, bobolinks, owls, and hawks. Who needs lions, tigers, and bears, eh?
Truly a great place to spend a day and absolutely no money while getting a little workout at the same time.