Pining? Best local places to sit under evergreens.
I love conifers!! Unfortunately, in (pardon the pun) our neck of the woods, they can be a little hard to find.
But they are here, you just have to know where to look (and I don’t mean in your neighbor’s yard). On several recent local outings, I discovered a number of surprising, small, but extremely charming evergreen groves. They have a very different feel from our familiar, moist and thick deciduous forest preserves. I recommend visiting some, and letting the smell of pine needles transport you —however briefly— to another place.
White Pines State Park
One of the best places to visit near Chicago for those, er… pining to see some evergreens. In winter, if you’re tired of the bare contours of the deciduous trees —much more common in Northern Illinois— the towering white pines in this state park will be a sight for sore eyes. In the warmer months, the direr, airier space among the trees offers cooling relief.
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West Beach, Indiana Dunes
Did you know that Indiana Dunes are considered a birthplace of ecology? Me neither. I just found that out. But I can’t think of a place more deserving. The gorgeous duneland trail winds along several interdunal ponds, and this is where you find a bit of a local curiosity: Jack Pines growing much further south than their typical range.
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Raceway Woods
A relatively short but quite exhilarating mountain bike trail winds up form the banks of a small creek, culminating on a sunny slope dotted with short, fragrant evergreens. Any season of the year, it’s quite a dramatic change from the ecosystem at the bottom of the trail.
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Tamarack Core Area, McHenry County
OK, I admit, this one I know very little about. And I am pretty sure that the trees pictured are not tamaracks, because those, like larches, lose their needles, and these looked like bona fide evergreens to me. I found this delightful grove on a very hot, and otherwise unremarkable, northern-most end of the Prairie Trail, about 2-3 miles north of where the trail intersects with the entrance to Glacial Park. I could not find a map. These are the best directions I can provide. The trail is linear, and heading straight north from Glacial Park, you can’t miss it. Look t for two picnic tables, and a fairly discreet sign. I recommend bringing a compact chair, bypassing the picnic tables, and clambering through some weeds for a secluded break among the pines.
Van Patten Woods Yellow Loop
This was another happy surprise discovery. I found myself at the northern reaches of Des Plaines River Trail, at Van Patten Woods, searching in vain for a shady picnic spot around the disappointingly bare Sterling Lake. Forget it. Instead, head over the the small, shady Yellow Loop trail, where you will find plenty of trees, and picnic groves (virtually empty on weekdays) surrounded by stately evergreens.