47 PILCHER PARK LOOP

KEY AT-A-GLANCE INFORMATION

LENGTH: 3.3 miles

CONFIGURATION: Loop

DIFFICULTY: Easy

SCENERY: Bottomland forest, ravines, streams, river, a historic well, and an impressive public greenhouse

EXPOSURE: Mostly shaded

SURFACE: Dirt with sections of new pavement and deteriorating asphalt

HIKING TIME: 1.5 hours

DRIVING DISTANCE: 43 miles from Millennium Park, downtown Chicago

ACCESS: The park is open from dawn to dusk. The nature center is open 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m. on weekdays; 10 a.m.–4:30 p.m. on weekends.

WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: No

FACILITIES: Nature center, restrooms, picnic tables, and shelters

MAPS: Ask for a trail map at the nature center or get one on the park's website at jolietpark.org; USGS topo Joliet, IL

SPECIAL COMMENTS: Contact the nature center at (815) 741-7277. To find out about special flower shows at the Bird Haven Greenhouse, call (815) 741-7278.

GPS TRAILHEAD COORDINATES

Latitude 414711

Longitude 4598196

Directions

From Chicago take I-90/I-94 south. Continue on I-94 until reaching I-57. Take I-57 south for 13.5 miles to I-80 west. After 13.7 miles on I-80, take Exit 137 and follow US 30 (West Lincoln Highway) 0.6 mile left (west). Turn right (north) on South Gouger Road and follow it 0.3 mile until you see the first of two entrances for the park on the left. Take either entrance and follow the signs pointing toward the nature center.

Public transportation: Pilcher Park is 2.5 miles from the New Lenox station on the Rock Island Metra line. From the station, head north on North Cedar Road. Turn left on West Francis Road. West Francis Road ends at the Bird Haven Greenhouse.

IN BRIEF

Pilcher Park offers an appealing mix of graceful ravines, lush bottomland forest, and small winding streams. Toward the end of the hike, you’ll see a couple of area landmarks from the 1920s: a still-used public water well and the recently renovated Bird Haven Greenhouse.

DESCRIPTION

Harlow Higginbotham, an important figure in Chicago during the late 19th century, once owned Pilcher Park. Higginbotham was the president of Chicago’s successful Columbian Exposition in 1893, a world’s fair commemorating the 400th anniversary of Columbus’s arrival in the Americas. After the exposition, Higginbotham used many of the trees that were part of the exhibits to establish a private arboretum on this property. Specimens such as southern magnolia, sweet gum, cypress, tulip tree, pecan, black birch, and various hickories were added to a park that already contained about 75 native species of trees.

In 1920, Higginbotham sold the arboretum to Robert Pilcher, a businessman, self-taught naturalist, and “sturdy pioneer,” according to the inscription on his statue near the park’s nature center. Eventually, Pilcher donated his 327 acres of virgin woodland to the City of Joliet, with the stipulation that the land be left wild. Higginbotham’s name is preserved across the street from Pilcher Park in another park called Higginbotham Woods (see Nearby Activities section).

Thanks to the efforts of Higginbotham and Pilcher, visitors can still explore the park’s 420 acres of ravines, streams, and forested bottomland. The ravines roll through the northern section of the park, and the bottomland forest—where you’ll see trees such as the bur oak, American elm, and slippery elm—occupies the southern section along Hickory Creek. Come springtime, the landscape in many sections of the park is carpeted with wildflowers.

The first stop at Pilcher Park ought to be the attractive log-cabin–style nature center that hosts a large colorful totem pole, built in 1912, in front. Inside, kids will enjoy the turtle pond; several aquariums containing catfish, sturgeon, crappie, and perch; live snakes; and a live Eastern owl. Also inside is a large window where you can watch the park’s birds (and squirrels) feeding at a cluster of bird feeders.

To begin the hike, follow the sign for the Green Trail at the nature center. After the trail dips down to meet the edge of a small pond, continue on the Green Trail to the right. Just ahead, the trail passes over several drainage culverts before crossing a gravel path and then the park road. On the other side of the park road, the landscape starts to rise.

Reaching the hilltop, the terrain levels out, and the trail curves left and runs above a pleasant wooded ravine containing an intermittent stream. At 0.6 mile into the hike, where several asphalt trails come together, follow the sign for the Purple Trail on the right. Right away, the Purple Trail enters a flat and dense woodland with a few intermittent streams. After passing an open area where a number of small- and medium-sized trees have been cut, the path starts to lose elevation. Just after crossing a stream, you’ll see the beginnings of an expansive wooded ravine on the left. Farther ahead is a nicely situated bench where you can pause and take it all in.

From the bench, the trail descends gradually through a mature oak forest and then curves right and passes a trail junction. When you reach the gate at the park road, keep straight ahead on the park road and look for the Light Blue Trail (also called the Artesian Trail). After crossing the wooden footbridge, you’ve suddenly entered a flat bottomland forest. Up ahead, beyond the paved service road, the Woodruff Golf Course appears on the left. Taking a right at the fork leads you over a footbridge, across the park road, and into a picnic area with tables, a shelter, an open grassy area, and the Flowing Well, where you’ll likely see a few people filling up their water bottles. Drilled in 1927 to a depth of 207 feet, the park district maintains that the mineral content and the 51-degree temperature of the water have remained constant throughout the life of the well. If you don’t mind the slight taste of iron and other minerals common in well water, take a drink.

From the well, follow the paved Pilcher Interpretive Trail (Lavender/Red Trail) to the left of the restrooms for 0.3 mile to the Bird Haven Greenhouse, which hosts indoor plants and flowers, outdoor formal gardens, seasonal flower shows, and a children’s garden. The greenhouse—designed by the same architectural firm that designed the Central Park Greenhouse in New York City—was built in 1929 and underwent a major renovation in 2003. Displayed in front of the greenhouse is the original clock face from the Will County Courthouse, built in 1887 in Joliet.

Proceeding with the hike, find the Pink/Lavender Trail at the back of the greenhouse just to the left of the paved path. A quarter mile away from the greenhouse, continue on the Pink Trail as it passes a small pond and a marshy area thick with shrubs on the left. Soon the trail crosses a park road and a footbridge and then heads back into the bottomland forest. This section of the trail is one of the places in the park where you may see wildflowers such as jack-in-the-pulpit, spring beauty, May apple, and red trillium. Crossing the park road again, keep straight ahead, soon reaching a footbridge over a small rocky stream. After crossing another footbridge, the trail runs next to the park road and Hickory Creek. At the junction with the Trail of Oaks, bear left and the nature center should be visible through the trees. Cross one final footbridge and then turn left on the interpretive trail that runs toward the backside of the nature center.

NEARBY ACTIVITIES

Higginbotham Woods, also owned by the Joliet Park District, is across Gouger Road from Pilcher Park. You can walk an old gravel road that traverses the park from east to west. This is accessible from Francis Road, which heads west from Gouger Road just south of the Bird Haven Greenhouse. Near the parking area is a large boulder with an inscription describing a French fort that was allegedly built on this land in 1730 and a trading post built in 1829. Recent archeological studies show, however, that the supposed indications of an early French fort are actually irregularly shaped earthworks created by Native Americans of the Hopewell period, which ranges from 200 BC to AD 400.