Will County Forest Preserve District Offers Winter Activities

Winter is just a few weeks away, so it’s time to bone up on all of the frosty fun offered by the Forest Preserve District of Will County.

Visitors can snowshoe, sled, skate or ski in designated preserve locations. Sled tubes and snowshoes are available for rent at Goodenow Grove Nature Center’s Plum Creek Nature Center in Crete Township. The snowshoe rental program at Monee Reservoir has been discontinued, and the items are now being offered only at Plum Creek Nature Center, which is a change from previous years. Snowshoes cost $10 per day.

In addition to snowshoes, visitors may also sled down Goodenow Grove’s 40-foot-high sled hill. The sled hill opens on Dec. 1, weather permitting. Bring your own plastic or inflatable sled or rent giant inner tubes from the nature center for $2 per tube. A driver’s license or state ID is required as a deposit to rent snowshoes or tubes.

Guests who visit Goodenow Grove for snowshoeing or sledding can warm up by a toasty fire inside the nature center, where they can also purchase a cup of hot chocolate.

Snowshoe and tube rentals will be available weather permitting from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and noon-4 p.m. on Sundays throughout the winter season. The nature center is closed on Mondays.

Ice skating also is possible when conditions are right at a Goodenow Grove pond. Skates are not rented from the nature center, however, so bring your own.

Finally, many forest preserve trails are open for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing throughout the District once they are snow covered.

To check to see if there is sufficient snow cover for sledding or if Goodenow Grove pond is sufficiently frozen for skating, call 708-946-2216.

For a complete list of Forest Preserve winter activities and programs, visit ReconnectWithNature.org.

Photo: Slide your way into some winter fun this season at the Forest Preserve District of Will County’s sled hill at Goodenow Grove Nature Preserve in Crete Township. The sled hill will be open after Dec. 1 when there is sufficient snow cover.

Submitted by the Forest Preserve District of Will County