49 THORN CREEK HIKE

KEY AT-A-GLANCE INFORMATION

LENGTH: 2.5 miles

CONFIGURATION: 2 connected loops

DIFFICULTY: Easy to moderate

SCENERY: Ravines, bottomland and upland forest, pine plantations, creeks, pond

EXPOSURE: Nearly all shaded

SURFACE: Dirt and some gravel

HIKING TIME: 1 hour

DRIVING DISTANCE: 37 miles from Millennium Park, downtown Chicago

ACCESS: Trails are open 8 a.m.–8 p.m.

WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: No

FACILITIES: Restroom, water, picnic tables

MAPS: Map signs appear at all trail junctions; paper maps are available in the nature preserve; USGS topo Steger, IL

SPECIAL COMMENTS: Nature center hours are noon–4 p.m., Friday–Sunday. For more information, call the nature center at (708) 747-6320. A bird checklist is available for free at the nature center.

GPS TRAILHEAD COORDINATES

Latitude 441618

Longitude 4589714

Directions

From Chicago, take I-90/I-94 south. Stay on I-94 until reaching I-57. Follow I-57 south for 18.5 miles to Exit 339. Turn right (east) on West Sauk Trail and proceed 0.9 mile. Turn right (south) on South Cicero Avenue and go 1.9 miles until you reach University Parkway/Stuenkel Road. Turn left (east) and proceed 1.65 miles until reaching Monee Road. Turn left (north) again, and the nature preserve is 0.5 mile ahead on the right.

Public transportation: The University Park station on the Electric Metra Line is located 1.5 miles from the start of this hike. From the station, head east on University Parkway. At Monee Road, turn left. The Thorn Creek Nature Center is just ahead on the right.

IN BRIEF

This lightly used nature preserve is a gem: after exploring the ravines, the pine plantations, the wooded hills, and the streams surrounded by bottomland forest, you may enjoy a visit to the former country church that now serves as a nature center.

DESCRIPTION

Considering how much it has been hauled around the neighborhood, the little wooden country church that serves as the Thorn Creek Nature Center is in surprisingly good condition. An Emmanuel Evangelical Lutheran congregation built the church in 1862 several miles northwest of its present location. After 100 years, Emmanuel Lutheran gave the church to Village Bible Church of Park Forest, which moved it just north of the nature center off Monee Road. Ten years later, when the Village Bible Church built a new structure, the congregation passed the old church to the Village of Park Forest. The village spruced it up and put it on a new foundation in its present spot.

Inside, where generations of churchgoers came to hear ministers’ sermons, schoolkids now sit in the pews while park naturalists explain the features of the Thorn Creek Preserve and surrounding areas. The large pulpit, elevated 8 feet above the pews, now contains an action-packed taxidermy scene of a red fox chasing a Canada goose through a cattail marsh. Visitors of all ages will enjoy touring the nature center’s displays of preserved animal specimens; lichens found in the area; bones, skulls, and arrowheads; photos of animals and plants found in the preserve; and a small nature library in the gallery upstairs. There are also photographs of the farm that occupied the preserve in the early 1900s.

Currently under ownership by the state, the county, and two nearby villages, the nature preserve was formed in the 1960s when private and governmental organizations joined forces to save the property from development.

The hike starts in the backyard of the nature center, on a gravelly path that immediately crosses a bridge over an intermittent stream. As the trail starts to descend a slight hill, watch for the logs half buried on the trail surface that serve to direct runoff away from the trail. Stay right at the first junction, and you’ll soon enter a bottomland forest of black walnut, swamp white oak, basswood, ash, and slippery elm. After passing a second junction on the left, the trail mounts a bridge over Thorn Creek—which may dry up into a series of isolated pools during the summer. Following a short boardwalk, the trail flattens out and winds through a grove of maples.

Soon a shallow ravine develops on the left, and a much deeper 50-foot ravine plunges down on the right. Dominated by maple, ash, and red oak, this ravine contains a tributary of Thorn Creek. As you proceed, listen for wind whispering through groves of red and jack pines planted by farmers in the 1950s (both red and jack pines’ needles are in clusters of two, but the red’s needles are up to 6 inches long, while the jack’s are only 1.5 inches long). According to the bird checklist available at the nature center, these pine plantations provide some of the best bird-watching spots in the 880-acre preserve.

As the path curves left, the landscape flattens and the woods are unwrapped from the dense canopy. In these upland areas, you’ll see white and red oak, shagbark hickory, and—after passing the junction with the boardwalk on the left—white pine (needles in clusters of five). On this straight and flat route to Owl Lake you’ll see a small cattail pond, pasture roses, and open fields beyond the trees on the right.

After circling Owl Lake (you’ll see it’s more of a pond than a lake), head back to the junction where the boardwalk starts on the right. While traversing the 0.2-mile boardwalk, you may notice a variety of fern species growing in the wet soil on the sides of the platform. Leaving the boardwalk behind, you’ll head back toward Thorn Creek and notice that the landscape begins to drop down on the left. After passing an enormous section of a concrete drain duct, the trail takes a sharp left, drops down the slope, crosses a bridge, and then enters a bottomland forest along a 50-foot section of boardwalk. For the remainder of the hike, look for thick trunks belonging to 150-year-old white and red oaks: the white oaks tend to grow in flat spots, while the reds often grow on the slopes. Stay right at the next two junctions to return to the parking lot.

NEARBY ACTIVITIES

Crete is a pleasant village with tree-lined streets and tidy front yards planted with flowers. The village hosts a number of antiques shops and some charming restaurants, including Annie’s Café and Old Fashioned Ice Cream Parlor, south of West Exchange Street on IL 1. Farther south on IL 1, horseracing fans are drawn to the Balmoral Park Race Track. To reach Crete, head south on Monee Road 0.9 mile, and then turn left on University Parkway and drive 3.6 miles.

Just a few miles northeast of Thorn Creek in Cook County is the Sauk Trail Forest Preserve, which includes a 4.7-mile paved path for hiking and biking. The hilly path runs through mature woods, next to ravines, and along the shore of Sauk Trail Lake. From the nature center, head north (turn right) on Monee Road and proceed 1.7 miles. Take a left on South Western Avenue and then quickly turn right on West Sauk Trail. A forest preserve entrance that accesses the paved path is 0.8 mile ahead on the left.