July’s Must-Visit Outdoor Havens in the Chicago Region

by Sheryl DeVore

July can be hot and buggy, but that’s no reason to stay indoors. Natural Awakenings asked local notable environmentalists what natural areas in the Chicago region they most enjoy visiting on a July day and what can be experienced there.

Before going, remember to wear appropriate clothing and footwear for weather and trail conditions, bring water, and use sunscreen and insect repellent as needed. Check clothing, skin and gear for ticks following a visit to a natural area.

Somme Prairie Nature Preserve

“In July, the woodland canopies have closed in, so spring ephemerals are fast asleep, having completed their bloom and seed cycle already,” says Kathleen Marie Garness, award-winning botanical illustrator and research associate at the Morton Arboretum. “But in the prairies, that’s just getting underway,” adds Garness, who lives in Forest Park. One of her favorite prairies to visit in July is within the Somme Preserves,
near Northbrook (fpdcc.com/places/locations/somme-preserves).

Owned by the Forest Preserves of Cook County, Somme Prairie includes a 269-acre woods and the 74-acre nature preserve, which is mainly open grassland. Walk the unpaved foot paths in July to search for big and little bluestem, Indian grass and switch grass swaying in the wind. Closer to the ground, visitors may find purple prairie clover and white prairie clover, native plants with delicate foliage and purple or white flowers that bloom upward on cylindrical spikes. “Prairie coreopsis and prairie lilies might also be in bloom in July,” Garness says.

Schulenberg Prairie

Cindy Crosby, author of 20 books on prairies, dragonflies and other nature subjects, walks the Schulenberg Prairie at the Morton Arboretum, in Lisle, in all seasons and all times of the day (MortonArb.org/explore/activities/explore-grounds/schulenberg-prairie).

But in July, she knows she’ll be able to find two colorful damselfly species along a stream on a trail. One is the American rubyspot, with a red head and thorax and green body. The other is the ebony jewelwing, which is iridescent green with large black wings.

In July, visitors can also see birds such as the dickcissel and many butterfly species, including monarch, viceroy, fritillary, eastern swallowtail and common buckeye. “Sit on a bridge over Willow Brook and feel your blood pressure drop and your cares melt away,” Crosby suggests.

Busse Woods Forest Preserves

Alan Anderson, research committee chairman for the Chicago Bird Alliance, monitors birds all summer, and one of his favorite places to do that is at Busse Woods Forest Preserves, near Rolling Meadows (fpdcc.com/places/locations/busse-woods). The 3,558-acre preserve owned by the Forest Preserves of Cook County features varied habitat, including woodlands, wetlands, lake and grasslands. In July, Anderson’s favorite place to visit is the grasslands where he can see and hear birds that nest in prairies. Two of them, Henslow’s sparrow and savanna sparrow, sound like insects calling from the grasslands. Since 1972, a small elk herd has thrived on a 17-acre pasture at Busse Woods, and they can be seen frolicking in the grasslands in July.

Volo Bog

Linda Curtis, a retired College of Lake County botany professor and author of sedge-identification books, says her go-to place in the region in July is Volo Bog State Natural Area, near Ingleside (dnr.illinois.gov/parks/park.volobog.html). “It is so reminiscent of my northern Wisconsin childhood,” says the Lake Villa resident. Curtis created an herbarium for the Volo Bog Nature Center to include rare plants growing among the sphagnum moss and tamarack trees.

An interpretive boardwalk goes around the center of the bog where visitors might see the endangered pitch plant, which gets its nourishment from flies that get trapped in the pitcher-like leaves when filled with water.

Nearby Cedar Lake Bog, in Lake Villa, is where early pioneers picked cranberries and blueberries. “Most of the tamarack trees there were harvested for barn pole supports and others laid crossways over bogs and swamps for the horse and stage coaches to cross,” Curtis says.

Lake Defiance

Kim Compton, education and visitor center services coordinator for the McHenry County Conservation District, says her favorite natural areas in July are places including the 55-acre Lake Defiance at Moraine Hills State Park, where she can get out on the water to view local wildlife (dnr.Illinois.gov/parks/park.morainehills.html;
call 815-385-5921 for boat rentals).

“Paddling gives me a sense of peace and ultimate relaxation,” Compton imparts. “When trails are often buggy, being on the water often includes a breeze that keeps some of the pesky insects like mosquitos away,” she continues. “I also love the animals that I see when out on the water. Wading birds like great blue herons and egrets are so awkward at times with their gangly legs, and yet as they take off to fly, they are elegant and smooth. Belted kingfishers are fun to listen to as they chatter constantly. Osprey and bald eagles are always exciting to spot. Muskrats show only the tips of their noses and their eyes as they swim through the water in straight, determined routes.”

Waterfall Glen

Scott Kobal, an ecologist for the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, recommends a visit to Waterfall Glen, near Darien, in July (DuPageForest.org/places-to-go/forest-preserves/waterfall-glen).

The 2,500-acre preserve contains diverse habitats, including woodlands, prairie, wetlands and pine plantations. The preserve has many parking lots. Kobal suggests using the one on Lemont Road and 101st Street, then taking the trail east from the lot through an oak woodland to a small marsh where wetland plants and dragonflies flourish in summer. The trail also goes past a grassland. “Plants such as prairie dock, Illinois rose and common mountain mint should be in bloom in July in this area,” Kobal says, adding, “If people continue on this trail to the east to where it comes to a T, they will find a scenic overlook which has a view of the Des Plaines River Valley.”

Eggers Grove

On the far south side of Chicago, Eggers Grove encompasses many habitats, including a rare dune and swale landscape formed by the retreat of the larger body of water, Lake Chicago, that once covered the area (fpdcc.com/places/locations/eggers-grove).

Today, after a major restoration project, the preserve includes dry wooded ridges and long, narrow wetlands filled with sedges, marshes and wildflowers.

The “restoration replicated the conditions of the local wetland system when it drained into nearby Wolf Lake, before development,” says Carl Vogel, director of communications for the Forest Preserves of Cook County. “The large marsh to the south is well-known as one of the best places in the region to see birds such as Virginia rail,” he adds. Though somewhat secretive, this species nests in the marsh and may be heard calling in summer. Visitors might also hear a gray catbird give its “meow” call from dense shrubbery.

Vogel says he likes Eggers Grove because of the three picnic groves where people can relax after a summer hike. “One of them is accessible for people with disabilities,” he says. For those that want to do a longer hike, trails at Eggers Grove connect to the regional Burnam Greenway Trail System. Hikers can take the trail to Wolf Lake on the Indiana side along the greenway.

Montrose Point

Northside resident Pam Karlson’s favorite place to be in July, besides her Chicago backyard garden brimming with birds and native plants, is Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary, along Lake Michigan. The bird sanctuary is even more popular during spring and fall bird migration. But Karlson, whose bird-friendly garden is featured in Douglas W. Tallamy’s book, Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard, says she loves visiting the sanctuary in summer.

“In July, the butterfly meadow is dazzling,” she relays. “Native plants such as liatris, monarda and milkweed are in full bloom and covered in pollinators. The dune grasses are full and elegantly sway in the breeze. Lake Michigan’s beautiful water color shifts from day to day. Birds continue to raise their young at Montrose through July.”

She adds that Montrose Point is the home to the federally endangered Great Lakes piping plovers, which have nested in recent years. This species, represented in part by two birds affectionately named “Monty and Rose,” twice raised chicks successfully on the sandy beach. “It’s a testament to the effectiveness of habitat restoration,” Karlson says. “I’m so grateful more land has been set aside and protected for them.”

Volunteer monitors keep an eye on the plovers in summer and steer visitors to a safe place where they can view these sandy-colored shorebirds from afar.

Editor’s note: As of this writing, two pairs of Great Lakes piping plovers are nesting in the Chicago area at both Montrose Point and at a beach near Waukegan.

Sheryl DeVore has written six books on science, health and nature, as well as nature, health and environment stories for national and regional publications. Read more at SherylDeVore.WordPress.com.