The Preserves

Located on Rt. 176 between JAWA and Mariani, with street parking available at the north and south ends of MacLaren Lane

The Skokie River valley is a remnant of the Ice-Age "Lake Chicago." The prairie reserve is a 30-mile marsh known for waterfowl and rare wetland plants, which once extended from Waukegan to Chicago. Spared from urbanization in the early 1900s, the Skokie River Prairie was severely overtaken by buckthorn and other non-native species up until the late 1990s. Since then, thousands of volunteer hours have been spent to return native species from suppression. Each year, the results of this work show dramatically as the native prairie plants spring back from long-dormant seeds to retake their places in the sun. The Skokie River Prairie connects with miles of Lake County Forest Preserve’s Oriole Grove and Lake Forest Open Lands trails, making it a great place for hiking and cross-country skiing.

Located on Wimbledon Court, off Green Bay Road.

This preserve started it all and is a fitting tribute to the founder of Lake Bluff Open Lands Association, Carolyn Goetz. Come listen to the wind in the White Pine forest and sit for a spell on the observation deck. This wetland is a habitat for blue-winged teal, wood duck, red-tailed hawks, snapping turtles, frogs, and other wildlife. In 2024, thanks to a grant from the Lake Forest Garden Club, boardwalks throughout the Goetz Wetlands have been rebuilt. Making the preserve more accessible and resilient in the face of climate change.

Located near the intersection at Green Bay Road and Rockland Road.

Located on the busiest corner in town, this site is enjoyed by thousands of visitors daily. Rockland Wetlands is home to many amphibians, including thousands of Western Chorus Frogs that make a riot of sound all spring, beautiful and wetland flora, as well as some stately bur oaks. Despite being on high ground, this area is wet all year round, indicating it may be spring-fed. The site has been host to Earth Day activities and benefited from the planting of 6,000 wetland wildflowers, grasses, sedges, reeds, and rushes. The ephemeral pond shown in this photo is at the NW corner of Green Bay Road and Rockland Road, extending westward.

 Located at the west end of Belle Foret, adjacent to the golf course. 

Historical records reveal that the Prairie Preserve served as the backyard of an existing estate on Green Bay Road. It had never been farmed and never had drain tiles installed. Proposed for development along with the rest of the Belle Foret subdivision, LBOLA founder Carolyn Goetz discovered rare prairie plants: rattlesnake master, nodding ladies tresses, and northern dropseed, indicating that the property was likely a remnant of earlier times and worthy of preservation. LBOLA arranged a land swap between the developer and the Lake Bluff Park District, preserving this rare sliver of original Illinois prairie for future generations

Located on Lake Bluff beach near the easternmost intersection of Center St. and Sunrise. 

The Lake Bluff Beach is a central focus for the Lake Bluff community. The construction of the upper prairie, with its raised timber structure and widely spaced steps, provided a graceful transition between the beach and the concrete retaining wall of the newly installed beach road. Our upper prairie is not quite mature with increasing diversity provided by successive plantings by LBOLA volunteers and Lake Bluff Middle School students on Outdoor Education projects. The lower sand prairie was planted at the turn of the century based on a plant list inspired by the sand prairie at Illinois Beach State Park in Zion. It includes the Midwest’s only native cactus – prickly pear cactus. In a wonderful new development, Marram Grass, once the dominant vegetation on Lake Michigan sand dunes, is escaping across Lake Bluff beach!

 Located near Ravine and Evanston.

Ravine Park extends from the corner of Ravine and Evanston to Glen alongside Ravine Ave; LBOLA is the steward of this ravine from Evanston to Gurney. In 2024, the Park District, with LBOLA as its steward, updated the ravine’s maintenance and restoration plan. LBOLA assiduously removes invasive plants, substituting species suitable to the ravine’s shaded and steep slopes. The Village also contributes to the park’s upkeep, assisting necessary restoration however possible, including installing gabion blocks to buttress the stream bed’s edges. Intensely used by our youth, the park now has well-loved meandering paths and endearing bridges that span the riffling creek below. The tableland above has a new steel bridge and resting spot, largely funded by the Butzlaff family. In the depths of the ravine, the quiet, cool air offers the same respite we might have enjoyed 150 years ago when the Methodist Camp Meeting set up its tents on the tableland above.

Located on the NE corner of Moffett and Lakeland.

This mature oak woodland fell on hard times as development in the area changed hydrology on the site, leading to the decline of older oaks. A re-forestry project in 2001 resulted in 19 young oaks and hickories beginning a new generation, followed by many seedlings that are finally able to access sunlight following a hugely successful clearing and regular burning of the once-choked site. Buckthorn, multiflora rose, honeysuckle, and European highbush cranberry have been largely banished — replaced by native wet savanna vegetation. And LOTS of trillium! Down Lakeland Drive, there is a historic colonnade consisting of hemlock trees, well south of their native range, which once announced the entrance to the Stanley Field estate. Moffett Woods consists of property donated to LBOLA by Stephen and Ann Bent and Shelby Yastrow in the early 1990s. It remains the only property owned by LBOLA, as our other managed preserves are publicly owned.

Located at the NE corner of the gravel train station parking lot, where E. Blodgett Ave. meets the train station parking lot. 

LBOLA is steward to a small plot of native color. We expand the plantings a bit each year. Flanking highways and railways, remnant prairies can be repositories of undisturbed seed beds, true remnants of historic habitat. Wild, wayward pockets that haven’t been plowed for agricultural cultivation or leveled for turfgrass have surprising diversity. The Robert McClory Bike Path that passes by LBOLA’s modest plot runs from the Wisconsin state line to Lake Cook Road, almost exclusively along repurposed railway frontage. Only one-tenth of 1% of our prairies remain in the US, making them one of the rarest ecosystems in the world.

Located at the East end of Bayshore Drive off Green Bay Road. 

Twenty years ago, a couple of neighbors got together to save Lake Genevieve and the surrounding 19 lots from development. Neglected for years, it became a dumping ground for everything from broken concrete to household junk. The circle of concerned people grew, and today, Lake Genevieve is owned by Shields Township and managed by LBOLA. LBOLA started serious restoration work in July 2008. This site now boasts a beautiful wetland and scores of mature oaks that have somehow survived the last 200 years. The first woodland burn was completed in the fall of 2010, and this Spring should be spectacular! So, come and take a leisurely stroll and soak in the beauty and uniqueness of this preserve.

Located just south of Lake Bluff Elementary School, along W. Washington Ave. 

The old oak and hickory woodland has experienced many changes recently. Essentially, the front yard of what is now the Lake Bluff Elementary School site, it has experienced dumping and a massive invasion of a number of unwanted weed species. Our community cleared the site of unwanted brush and trash. LBOLA has built a wood chip path through the woods, built an outdoor classroom, seeded natives, conducted prescribed burns, and planted 1,000 native woodland trees. The name of the preserve itself has morphed from Sullivan Woods to Central Woods to its current name, Dwyer Woods, named after the original Lake Bluff settlement. In addition to mature white, red, and bur oaks, the site is home to many shagbark hickories, including a surprising number of rare young shagbarks, assuring a wonderful future here for one of our more hard-pressed native tree species.

Located west of the Park District’s Rec Center building at 355 W. Washington Ave. 

The garden at the preschool was a collaboration between the Lake Bluff Park District and LBOLA. Its genesis was a casual conversation with the ecology-minded teachers at the park district's preschool in the Rec Center. LBOLA sourced the wildflowers, and the Park District tilled the soil. The planting occurred in a single day during covid; the youngsters and their families arrived in succession, each group taking their turn to plant some of the seedlings. Located on the west-facing slope next to their playground,  the new garden was watered by the preschool until the plants’ roots grew strong.