Conscious Choice: Nature Centers

June 2000

Nature Centers

by Meg McGowan

Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy. While cares drop off like autumn leaves. —John Muir

The grasshopper field was a corner lot about a block from my childhood home. Walking to school we would rustle through the tall grasses, catching grasshoppers and occasionally bringing home a cocoon to hatch. My sense of personal loss was profound when construction began on a house on that lot. I’d known intimately the plants and insects that had inhabited that space. I had felt the energy of nature left to its own devices. Nature centers seek to preserve that experience for adults and children alike, providing an opportunity to understand the importance of diversity and explore the complex interdependence of nature.

The Grove, located at 1421 Milwaukee Avenue in Glenview, is a national historic landmark. It takes its name from remnants of undisturbed ancient forest that have existed since glaciers covered this area. It is one of the few natural areas that preserves this unique ecological attribute. The Grove spans 123 acres and includes expanses of prairie and wetland in addition to the oak woodlands. Self-guided trails meander through the prairie and woodland settings, and a wooden walkway bridges the wetlands in front of the Interpretive Center, allowing visitors an intimate glimpse of the plant and animal life inhabiting that ecosystem.

The Interpretive Center houses a collection of live birds, turtles, snakes. Nearby is a large aviary that houses The Grove owl. A short distance down the trail are recreations of a log cabin and a Native American village, including a longhouse and a tepee. Here, the Glenview Park District often hosts programs to highlight both pioneer life and Native American traditions. A one-room schoolhouse is located down another trail, a replica of the small Gothic Revival-style building that once stood on the opposite side of Milwaukee Avenue. Teachers in period costume allow visitors to experience a typical school day in the nineteenth century.

The Kennicott family home, also built in the Gothic Revival style, has been restored with many of the original furnishings intact and is open to the public on Sunday afternoons from 1:00 to 4:00 pm. The original owner, Dr. John Kennicott settled in The Grove in 1836. His son, Robert Kennicott, became a noted naturalist and founded the Chicago Academy of Science. Near the Redfield Center, a Tudor-style house built in 1929, are two gazebos, a reflecting pool, and tranquil gardens. Currently, an antique-inspired, glass-walled greenhouse is being built to house live animals, wetland exhibits, and demonstrations.

The Nature Center is a particularly child-friendly destination, located at 330 N. Main Street in Crystal Lake. Life-size exhibits present information in a fun format. Living exhibits include fish, reptiles, bees, and mammals. A special Discovery Area offers an array of hands-on activities that allow children to learn through play. Animals, puzzles, microscopes, tools, books, and a puppet theater are available to expand their understanding of nature. The colorful bird and butterfly garden attracts a wide variety of winged creatures, as well as visitors of all ages.

The Center is surrounded by nearly every type of habitat found in the Midwest. Within short hiking distance of the facility, wetlands, woodlands, prairie, fen, wet meadow, ponds, and streams can be explored. Every ecosystem in the area is natural, not human made. Interpretive trails wind through the nearly 200 acres of preserved land. There is also a fishing pier at Veteran Acres Pond.

In Schaumburg, the Spring Valley Nature Sanctuary is connected to the Volkening Heritage Farm, both located at 111 E. Schaumburg Road. Spring Valley is 135 acres of meadows, woods, and wetlands, woven together in a single natural community which supports a great variety of plants and animals, much as they were in presettlement Illinois. Re-created tall-grass prairies change constantly with the seasons. An open-water marsh, visible from the pier, is a living sponge, helping to absorb rainwater and providing homes for many animals. Hard and soft trails snake through the valley. Maps and interpretive trail booklets are available at the Vera Meineke Nature Observation Building, an earth-sheltered, passive-solar visitor center. The center also offers a natural history library, interactive and seasonal exhibits, and a Backyard for Wildlife display. Other points of interest include Merkle Log Cabin and Bob Link Arboretum.

The Volkening Heritage Farm is an 1880s German-American living-history farm, consisting of a farm visitor center, a farmhouse, heirloom kitchen gardens and orchards, pasture, fields and crops, and numerous relocated and reconstructed outbuildings. Visitors can help with farm chores such as washing, ironing, sewing, caring for animals, and gathering eggs. Special events throughout the year, such as "Mooing and Mowing" in July, provide an opportunity to participate in other farm activities.

Red Oak Nature Center, located at 2343 S. River Street in Batavia also offers interactive exhibits for children. The Green Miracle is a series of walk-through exhibits that simulates the experience of shrinking to the size of an ant and traveling through a leaf, a tree trunk, and even underground. In the Observation Room, young visitors can build a flower, smell plant fragrances, match leaves, touch bark textures, and identify animal homes. A visible beehive reveals the complex work of busy bees. Some live animals, representing species of wildlife found in the Fox River Valley, are also on display.

Turtle Trail is one of four trails that run parallel to the Fox River. Less than a quarter of a mile long, it is a great choice for hiking with small children. Big Woods Trail is the longest at a mile and a half. Red Fox Prairie Trail allows a view of a freshwater spring, along with prairie grasses and huge burr oaks. The Dolomite Trail has interpretive signage to explain some of the natural features on the trail. Near Devils Cave is an interpretive boardwalk that explains how the cave and the ravine were formed.

In the south suburbs, Irons Oaks offers extraordinary nature adventures. Located at 2453 Vollmer Road, the thirty-seven-acre nature preserve is the site of an adventure center designed to push participants to their limits. Groups of eight to fourteen persons are led through the activities by trained facilitators. The Team Challenge Course is a series of twenty obstacles or initiatives nestled among the large oak trees on the site, including the wild woozy, the incomplete bridge, the spider web and the trust fall. Each challenge encourages mutual trust and support, as well as teamwork skills that will carry over into daily life. The High Ropes Course includes fifteen obstacles that are navigated from a height of thirty-five feet above the ground. The Pole High Ropes Course is higher and has a Zip Line, a long balance beam, a very challenging double cable walk, and a web crawl. There is also a fifty-foot climbing tower featuring a range of climb levels from beginner to advanced. It provides opportunities for rappelling, climbing, and belay practice. Programs are available for people of all ages. Irons Oaks routinely hosts birthday parties, Scout groups, and corporate-reach programs.

The Stable at Irons Oaks contains a cross-country ski center and a meeting room that often features exhibits. The Therapy Garden features an area of raised planter boxes designed for access by handicapped persons. Other programs offered throughout the year include wildflower walks, nature drawing and sketching, Lunch with a Raccoon, and a diverse selection of educational activities.

Also in the south suburbs is Sand Ridge Nature Center, located at 15890 Paxton Avenue in South Holland. Four walking trails of varying lengths allow visitors to explore different ecosystems. Pines Trail passes through pine woods, oak forest, and prairie restoration. Redwing Trail circles through oak forests and shrub communities and passes Redwing Pond. Dogwood Trail features several forest types and a variety of wetlands. It crosses over a marsh on two bridges. Lost Beach Trail encompasses a uniquely forested ancient beach ridge and sand dune.

An exhibit room serves as an introduction to the natural history of the Calumet region, housing displays, activities, and native local wildlife. Just outside are a butterfly garden, vegetable garden, and herb fence highlighting plants valued by wildlife and those used by pioneers. Lifestyles of early nineteenth-century Illinois settlers are depicted in Pioneer Cabins, where volunteers in period costumes periodically perform demonstrations of daily tasks.

Wildlife Prairie Park, located at 3826 N. Taylor Road in Peoria, is worth planning a day trip or a weekend to see. The 2,000-acre zoological park is home to wolves, bison, waterfowl, black bear, elk, cougar, otter, and other wildlife that inhabited the area in the early 1800s. For a dollar, visitors can board a miniature train for a broad view of the park. Numerous hiking trails with scenic overlooks provide opportunities for a closer look. John Muir Grove lends cover to birds of prey and includes a songbird aviary. The Visitor Center has an overlook for wildlife, as well as a new walk-through bat cave exhibit in the museum. There is a butterfly garden nearby. The Pioneer Farmstead is located along the Wagon Trail Loop. Visitors can see farm animals, a log cabin, and a one-room school house.

Overnight guests can stay at the park. Facilities include a Cabin On The Hill, Cottages By The Lake, Train Cabooses, Prairie Stables, or The Outback, which is handicapped accessible. All lodgings are equipped with refrigerators and coffee makers. Lunch and snacks are available at the Arboretum Cafe, which also serves a Sunday brunch.

As untouched open spaces of land increasingly give way to new development, our daily connection to nature is diminished. We cannot mourn the loss of what we have not known. Children, especially, need to grow in an awareness of the natural world, or they will not value the open lands that are left to them. Given the experience of finding peace and quiet joy in a natural setting, adults and children alike will be motivated to preserve and protect our natural resources for future generations.

Resources

The Nature Center, 815-455-1763

The Grove, 847-299-6096

Irons Oaks, 708-481-2330

Red Oak Nature Center, 630-897-1808

Sandridge Nature Center, 800-870-3666

Spring Valley Nature Sanctuary, 847-985-2100

Wildlife Prairie Park, 309-676-0998

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