Herrick Lake Forest Preserve in Wheaton, Illinois is one of the best Forest Preserves in DuPage County for hiking, biking, birding, fishing and boating. With 887 acres, this is one of the most popular Forest Preserves in the area.

Things to Know About
Herrick Lake Forest Preserve

Open 1-hour after sunrise, and 1-hour after sunset.
The main entrance is off of Butterfield Road, and the second entrance is off of Herrick Road (1/4 South of Butterfield Road).
There are more than 7 miles of hiking, biking and horseback-riding trails at Herrick Lake. All trails are crushed limestone and/or asphalt.
The Lake Trail loops around Herrick Lake at .8 miles long.
The greater trail systems south of the Lake wind (and loop) through rolling marsh and grass land. This trail system also connects to the trails that lead to Danada and Blackwell.
Boat rentals are available by the hour May through September (canoes, kayaks and row boats).
Pet Friendly Hiking Trails (dogs must be on leashes under 10 feet long).
Restrooms near the boat house have running water and flush toilets; the other restrooms onsite are pit toilets.
Shelters onsite are available for public gathering rentals.

The photographs that you see here are from our hike in early spring. We brought our Australian Cattle Dog, Kai, along and hiked the trails to the south of Herrick Lake.

As a native of the area, this was actually my first time experiencing these trails. I grew up visiting more of the ‘touristy’ areas in Illinois, like Starved Rock State Park and Waterfall Glen. Now that I am getting older, I have a greater appreciation for these local parks.

We parked at the second entrance off of Herrick Road and headed towards the trails to the south and hiked Danada-Herrick Lake Regional Trail (1.5 miles), Green Heron Trail (1.9 miles), and Bluebird Trail (.4 miles).

Along the way, several bikers passed us by and we saw a few people running and hiking. It was pretty busy because it was the weekend - but there were also good stretches of time while we were the only ones on the trail.

If you are looking for a trail with fewer people, and fewer bikers McKee Marsh is also nearby (not that it was that busy here - but its an option). I like to change it up and go to different parks in the area to change the scene and see different wildlife and birds.

It was so beautiful to see all of the trees starting to bloom, Herrick Marsh, migrating birds and a baby turtle! These photographs were captured with my Nikon FM10, 50mm lens and FUJI 400 35mm film. Film scans were done by Indie Film Lab.