Cook County, IL

Explore new ways to get the family off the sofa and into the Great Outdoors with adventures including hiking, biking, and interacting with wildlife.

Oglesby, IL

Starved Rock State Park is one of Illinois’ most beautiful hiking spots. The paths wind through tall trees, wildflower meadows and 18 rock canyons, most of which have a waterfall you can witness up-close. Stop at the overlooks along the Illinois River, and don’t forget to look up—you might see a bald eagle flying overhead.

Lakefront Trail

Chicago, Illinois, United States

Chicago’s lakefront trail is one of the most scenic bike paths in the country. The 18-mile trail, which runs along Lake Michigan, offers phenomenal skyline views plus fun family stops like the doggie beach at Irving Park, Lincoln Park Zoo (free admission), Navy Pier, Buckingham Fountain, and Museum Campus, which has some grassy areas where you can sit down and soak in the city views.

Midewin Tallgrass Prairie

Wilmington, Illinois, United States

Bike alongside bison at the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie. While the herds aren't always visible, even if you can’t see the bison, the park’s peaceful paved trails— which range from 1.5- to 16 miles long—teem with mint-green leopard frogs, ring-necked pheasants, more than 100 different bird species, and a sea of coneflowers and other prairie plants.

635 Robinson Hill Rd
Makanda, IL

Shawnee Bluffs Canopy Tour consists of eight zip lines, the longest stretching more than 1,100 feet, which zig-zag across the property’s bluffs and through the valley. The tour also includes 11 platforms high in the trees, three aerial suspension bridges, the longest stretching 180 feet, and two short ground hikes. A canopy tour is an exciting way to experience the flora, fauna, geology and history of the outdoors by safely traversing an established route of ziplines and aerial bridges between platforms built in the trees, and they are just plain fun!

1300 N 27th Rd
Ottawa, IL

Paddle down the Illinois River at Buffalo Rock State Park, the place that was once home to Native Americans and where the French explorer Louis Jolliet and the Jesuit missionary priest Father Jacques Marquette made their trip up the river in 1673.