Waterfall Glen is a DuPage County Forest Preserve, located southwest of Chicago and about 90 minutes driving from our home in the northern suburbs. We visited this odd-shaped preserve today after reading Owlman’s post about his recent visit. Go read his post Indigo bunting oasis! to find out why we were so intrigued (and to view better photos than below!).
Prior to reading Owlman’s post, I had never heard of Waterfall Glen. I had, however, heard of Argonne National Laboratory. The forest preserve property surrounds the lab’s property, making the preserve doughnut-shaped. Argonne is a U.S. Dept of Energy research facility focused on national security, energy and biological & environmental systems.
The main trail at Waterfall Glen is a nearly ten-mile loop. There are several parking areas around the preserve and smaller looping trails are available. We walked about 3.5 miles on the northwest side of the park, taking the Tear-Thumb trail shortcut from the main trailhead parking lot.
First, as expected, we were eaten alive on the grass path.
The gravel main trail was much better – no mosquitoes but plenty of birds and other creatures.
The main trail was virtually crawling with these slugs and tiny thumbnail-sized frogs.
And we also saw & heard Indigo Buntings, yes! Unfortunately most of our views were like this:
After this little hike we drove to another area of the park to see the waterfall.
We had a lovely morning there and will surely visit this preserve again. Many thanks to Owlman!
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