Hiking at Hampshire Forest Preserve and Eagles Forest Preserve in the Elgin, Illinois Area

 

Peaceful Trails, Beautiful Woodlands and Gentle Tyler Creek Charm During Our Elgin Area, Illinois Hikes

Disclosure: Thank you to Explore Elgin Area for hosting our visit.

A sunny Saturday during our Elgin Area adventure provided us with the perfect opportunity for exploring local trails. The region has quite a range of trails to choose from and with a free afternoon, we were able to choose two. During our exploration, we hiked along the trails at Hampshire Forest Preserve and Eagles Forest Preserve.

Hampshire Forest Preserve

Hampshire Forest Preserve invites a variety of nature experiences including hiking, horseback riding and picnicking. The preserve also features a model airplane field. In winter, trails beckon snowmobilers. Hampshire Forest Preserve is a preserve to know in all seasons, however, we were quite thrilled to visit in heart of spring!

Sitting atop of a glacial moraine, some of the trails at
 Hampshire Forest Preserve have gentle rolls.

The oak-hickory woodlands populate the top of a glacial moraine. During spring, hikers relish a forest floor full of spring wildflowers. Spring wildflowers have a certain progression throughout spring which is fun to watch unfold. We embark on spring hikes with some excitement anticipating which flowers will be in bloom! Spring beauties, bloodroot, wild geraniums, violets and more delighted us.

Wildflowers carpet the forest floor at Hampshire Woods.

We found our early spring hike to be quite peaceful while also enjoying the busy spring wildlife. The glacial moraine landscape did have some rolls to it but overall the trails were fairly easy. The preserve features 12 miles of trails, so we have much yet to discover on future hikes. We would like to return fairly soon to see the preserve under the cover of verdant dancing leaves!

Read more about our Elgin Area Weekend Getaway.

Eagles Forest Preserve

Eagles Forest Preserve is a tranquil preserve within the city limits of Elgin. Tyler Creek gently mosies through the preserve. We encountered a number of hikers with furry friends, so it appears to be a favorite for dogs!

Tyler Creek mosies through woodlands full of bright and lively spring green
 foliage at Eagles Forest Preserve in Elgin, Illinois.

 

While the preserve is not huge, we felt that Eagles Forest Preserve really treated us with a lovely natural setting. We saw quite a few birds and wildflowers along the trail. I saw my first prairie trillium of the year -- awesome. Plus, the views of Tyler Creek were absolutely delightful!

The gentle trail through the woodlands at Eagles Forest Preserve.

Hampshire Forest Preserve and Eagles Forest Preserve added a splendid nature respite during our Elgin Area adventure. Truly, there is nothing more uplifting in spring than forest bathing and watching all of the plants and animals come alive after a winter slumber.