04 SKOKIE LAGOONS AND RIVER HIKE
KEY AT-A-GLANCE INFORMATION
LENGTH: 4 miles
CONFIGURATION: Loop with several cutoffs for shorter hikes
DIFFICULTY: Easy
SCENERY: Skokie Lagoons, Skokie River, woodland, grassland
EXPOSURE: Mostly shaded
SURFACE: Dirt, gravel, paved
HIKING TIME: 1.5 hours
DRIVING DISTANCE: 25 miles from Millennium Park, downtown Chicago
ACCESS: Sunrise to sunset
WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: No, but the section of the hike on the North Branch Trail is accessible.
FACILITIES: Picnic areas with tables and pavilion
MAPS: Cook County Forest Preserve District offers a map at fpdcc.com; USGS topo Park Ridge, IL
SPECIAL COMMENTS: While on the North Branch Trail, be mindful of cyclists—especially if it’s a summer weekend.
GPS TRAILHEAD COORDINATES
Latitude 437475
Longitude 4661092
Directions
By car, take I-90/I-94 northwest. Stay on I-94 for 10 miles after it breaks off from I-90. Exit at Willow Road (Exit 33B). Park in the Erickson Woods parking lot, 0.2 mile ahead on the left.
Public transportation: Pace bus 423 runs by Erickson Woods. Catch 423 from either the Winnetka station on the Union Pacific/North Metra Line or from the Glenview station on the Milwaukee District/North Metra Line.
Bicycle: From Chicago, follow North Elston Avenue to where it merges with North Milwaukee Avenue. Catch a connector trail leading to the North Branch Trail from the Caldwell Woods Forest Preserve parking lot at the corner of North Milwaukee Avenue and West Devon Avenue. Turn left at the North Branch Trail, and follow it to Willow Road.
IN BRIEF
Surrounded by urban development, the islands and the scenic waterways of the Skokie Lagoons provide a wooded refuge just 15 miles north of the Loop. After skirting the southern edge of the lagoons, this route delivers you to the quiet, tree-laden banks of the Skokie River.
DESCRIPTION
The Skokie Lagoons have undergone many changes since they existed as marshland that the local Potawatomi Indians called Chewab Skokie, meaning “big wet prairie.” Like other wetlands in the area, the marsh was drained by farmers who arrived in the late 1800s. Their efforts to create farmland fell flat, however; during wet years, the land still flooded, and during dry years, the peat marsh would catch fire, and smoke would drift into the surrounding communities for extended periods.
When Cook County acquired the marshlands in 1933, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) started a project of digging a series of connected lakes for flood control and recreation.
Using mostly wheelbarrows, picks, and shovels, workers excavated 4 million cubic yards of earth in what became the largest CCC project in the nation. When work finished in 1942, 7 miles of waterway connected seven lagoons. Fed and drained by the East Fork of the North Branch of the Chicago River (often called the Skokie River), three low dams and a main dam at Willow Road were added to control the water level in the lagoons.
At the Erickson Woods parking lot, look for the plaque commemorating the former site of the Skokie Lagoons CCC camp. From the plaque, take the Yellow Trail (a dirt road) on the left that runs between the picnic area and the ditch, which contains treated wastewater. (Because the water in the ditch remains warm year-round, it often draws birds during the winter.) After entering a dense wooded area, the trail curves left, bringing you closer to the noise of I-94. A short stroll ahead, the trail turns right and then crosses a bridge over the water ditch.
After crossing the bridge, you’ll meet up with the North Branch Trail, a 20.1-mile paved path that runs north for 3.6 miles to the Chicago Botanic Gardens, and south for 16.5 miles to the corner of North Caldwell Avenue and West Devon Avenue. As you turn right on the trail, feel free to cut through the bottomland forest on the left to get a closer view of the lagoon and its resident water birds (despite the thick suburban development in the area and a major expressway that borders the preserve, the bird-watching is often good around the lagoons). At 1.4 miles into the hike, you’ll pass another bridge on the right and a picnic area on the left with a pavilion, picnic tables, and water pump set in an open grassy area that juts into the lagoon. When the paved path curves right to cross Willow Road, continue straight ahead on the gravel trail that passes over the Willow Road Dam.
Marking the south end of the lagoons and the beginning of the Skokie River, local anglers flock to this bridge and the nearby concrete embankment. The county has worked hard over the years to keep the fish biting in these waters. Since the lagoons were dug in the 1940s, the open water has been slowly returning to marshland. Eventually, the stocked and native fish were unable to survive winters in water that was only 5 or 6 feet deep. To solve this problem, in 1988 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency deepened many of the lagoons to 12 feet, dredging 1 million cubic yards of sediment. Now the lagoons are some of Cook County’s most productive fishing spots for bass, pike, and walleye.
After the bridge, keep straight ahead until you reach North Forest Way, where you’ll turn right toward Willow Road. On the other side of Willow Road, look for the Yellow Trail heading into the woods (this quieter dirt trail runs parallel to the North Branch Trail for 8 miles, from Tower Road south to Dempster Street). After a couple of turns in the trail, you’ll be walking on top of a levee alongside the wooded banks of the 20-foot-wide Skokie River. Once you’ve passed a little dam on the right with a concrete platform, a side trail drops down from the levee on the left and runs for a quarter mile to Hibbard Road. Continuing ahead, don’t take the narrow trail that continues directly on the other side of Winnetka Avenue—this trail dead-ends a half mile ahead at I-94. Instead, cross the Winnetka Avenue bridge and take the wide dirt trail immediately on the left. Again, the trail follows a levee along the pleasant wooded banks of the Skokie River.
As you approach the expressway underpass, cut over to the paved North Branch Trail on the right and then turn right for an 0.8-mile trip back to the parking lot. (Continuing south along the North Branch Trail, the trail ends 11.7 miles later at the corner of North Caldwell Avenue and West Devon Avenue.) Heading back toward Winnetka Road, the trail runs through an open grassy area revealing a few houses on the left. For the remaining stretch to Willow Road, the trail meanders in and out of wooded and grassy areas.
NEARBY ACTIVITIES
Head north from Erickson Woods for 2.6 miles along the North Branch Trail for a pleasant hike around the largest island in the Skokie Lagoons. While not technically an island because it’s connected to the shore with a narrow levee, the landscape on this 2.8-mile hike offers a surprisingly remote feel for such an urban area. To reach this trail via the North Branch Trail, stay to the right at the fork at Tower Road. At 1.1 miles north of Tower Road, look for the gravel trail at the bottom of a small dip on the left as the path splits from Forest Way Drive. If driving from Erickson Woods, take Willow Road left to Forest Way Drive. Follow Forest Way Drive to the left for 2.4 miles. Park on the side of the road near the trailhead.
On the gravel path heading out to the island, take a left at the first fork. Stay to the left close to the shore for much of the way around the island as you pass through woodland, stands of shrubs, and open grassy areas. After the dam, take the next major fork to the right. Keep to the right until you meet up with your earlier route. A GPS unit is a good idea on this hike because of the number of unmarked trails. If you’re in the mood for more exploring, you can also wander through a jumble of trails on the northern part of the island.
Kayakers and canoeists are attracted to the quiet channels and wooded islands within this series of slow-moving waterways (motorboats are not permitted). A few low dams require portaging. Paddlers can launch at spots along Forest Way Drive and Tower Road. Rentals are available at Chicagoland Canoe Base: 4019 North Narragansett Avenue, (773) 777-1489, chicagolandcanoebase.com.