Forest Glen Preserve - Park in Westville - 20301 900 North Rd, USA

This was a nice backpacking trail. It was a mix of easy and moderate hiking with the latter portion following East Camp being the most moderate. We never found the visitor center, but we’re able to easily find the start of the river ridge backpacking trail. There were nice laminated placards to put in your car window for those folks who pre-planned to backpack. The red trail marks and arrows are pretty easy to find as were the junctions. Only issue we had was at the crossroads of Old Barn Trail and Deer crossing, but we figured it out pretty easily with the map. Note—the map is not really to scale, but is otherwise helpful. The Group camp area is nice and spacious and accessible via car. The river is seen along the final leg to the East Camp. There is one trail to access it. The East Camp has 5 sites and an outhouse. They are nicely space and have a picnic table and a fire pit. Overall, the woods were quite beautiful. Our trekking poles came in very handy with some of the hills at the end. It was nice to over along the ridge, but also be in the valleys. Would highly recommend for first time backpacking/campers. A nice one to start with. You can also fish at the pond.

This was my first time coming to Forest Glen, and it was awesome. I registered for the backpacking trail, and made it an overnight trip. 12 miles for the loop, and it was harder than I thought it would be in flat Illinois. Lots of elevation gain between the ridges. I hiked 8 miles on the first day to the East Camp, and I would say that I preferred this campsite to the group camp. It was much more secluded, and there is no road access up to it. I highly recommend to anyone who lives in the area, for either camping or just simply day hiking!

Lovely beech forest with some challenging trails with steep steps and other broad flat paths. My group enjoyed climbing the observation tower even though is a lot of stairs. Some spots hold a large number of bird species.

The eleven mile backpack trail is, as far as I have found, the most enjoyable and challenging hiking trail that east central Illinois has to offer. It can be easily done as a day hike or with an overnight stop at East Camp, which I found to be peaceful even with all five sites occupied. If you do backpack camp, easily accessible water sources are somewhat limited later on throughout the trail, so plan ahead and get water early.

Beautiful preserve with a great paved handicapped trail for wheelchairs winding through the forest of fall color. Other trails are lovely too. I tried three. I took on the observation tower but didn't quite make it beyond the last set of stairs with nothing under them. The wooden stair boards on the tower are showing wear and some are spongy, adding an extra level of anxiety for those who don't do heights easily.

This place is a really good beginners trail for backpacking with moderate challenges, almost all of the trail is shaded. We backpacked for 8 miles on first day and camped at site# 16 East camp. Next day, we backpacked 3 miles to the parking lot. We did notice the trails were marked. freshly painted. Highly recommended for those who are interested in backpacking or just day hike of 11 miles.

Out in the country. No full hook ups. Restrooms filthy even has sign up restrooms are not cleaned regular. Had camp host whenever she feels like to be there. Staff exceeds speed limits. No cell phone service.

A Beautiful respite from the grind of Modern Times. A Wonderful step back to the Glorious Days of Old... when Deciduous Forest prevailed upon the Valleys and Tall Grass Prairies dominated the landscape.