Oriole Grove Forest Preserve in Lake County straddles the Lake Bluff - Lake Forest border following the Skokie River. The preserve does not have its own parking lot, so you must access it from either the Lake Bluff Openlands or Lake Forest Openlands parking lot. On our first visit, we entered through the Lake Bluff Openlands parking lot. We first wandered through the prairie before heading into the woodlands of the preserve.
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| Skokie River Prairie displayed the straw-colored grasses of the late fall prairie. |
The Lake County Forest Preserve itself has approximately 1.35 miles of grass trails. However, it blends into the trails of the Openlands preserves offering more trails to extend your nature respite.
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| Signs throughout Skokie River Prairie provide more context about the preserve. |
We wandered through the Lake Bluff Openlands Skokie River Prairie before reaching Oriole Grove Forest Preserve. Throughout this section, we discovered a few informative signs. The prairie was a blend of straws and rusts revealing that it was late fall. In the summer. the prairie is likely brilliant with the colors of prairie flowers and butterflies. This section also seems to be a favorite of dogs and their humans although we would see a few dogs throughout our journey.
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| Fungus and late fall leaves create interesting nature scenes on the forest floor at Oriole Grove Forest Preserve. |
Oriole Grove itself is 86 acres but is part of a 240-acre nature preserve corridor of protected land along with Lake Bluff Openlands, Lake Forest Openlands, and private landowners. Part of it is considered a specially protected Illinois Nature Preserve. What I love about lesser frequented preserves like Oriole Grove is you tend to see more of nature's delicate treasures like fungus -- and there sure was plenty to see on this trip.
Jen Jensen's Tie to the Preserve
The preserve has an interesting tie to famed conservationist and landscape architect Jens Jensen. The land of the preserve once was the estate of rail magnate William V. Kelley. Kelley hired Jensen to design the landscape. The kidney-shaped pond was designed by Jensen and matches one near Green Bay Road.
Oriole Grove is an oak-hickory forest that is certainly on display at the pond. Pausing along the edge of the pond, we admired the tree reflections as well as the bed of submerged rust, molasses, and, tan-colored leaves. So peaceful and serene!
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| In fall, we could easily see the Skokie River peeking from behind the trees at Oriole Grove Forest Preserve. |
Sections of the preserve were not as quiet as we would have liked as we could hear some of the traffic from the road. However, at points when we got further into the woodlands the noise was less evident and we felt wrapped up in nature. We enjoyed ambling along the Skokie River. At this point, we were getting chilly and began to head back pausing at a few more treasures along the way.
Overall, we enjoyed our hike at Oriole Grove Forest Preserve. We are interested in seeing what the preserve displays in the summer. We would also like to explore more of the connected trails. If you are looking to get out this winter, you can cross-country ski at the preserve. A nice little treasure tucked in Lake Bluff and Lake Forest!
Parking Lots
- Skokie River Prairie on Route 176, west of Green Bay Road in Lake Bluff
- Skokie River Nature Preserve on the west end of Laurel Avenue, west of Green Bay Road in Lake Forest
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