The Best Beginner Backpacking Near Chicago: Forest Glen Preserve

February 25, 2024

The Midwest is not known for backpacking, but we found the perfect beginner’s backpacking trip less than 3 hours from Chicago. Forest Glen Preserve near Danville, IL can be a 1 or 2 night trip using the River Ridge Back Pack Trail. We’ll tell you all about it, and share our personal experience backpacking with our friends Liz and Anthony.

Table of Contents

Forest Glen Preserve

20301 900 North Rd, Westville, IL 61883

Forest Glen Preserve, part of the Vermilion County Conservation District, is a beautiful site and perfect for beginner backpackers. By central Illinois standards, it’s a very hilly and exciting hike, full of gorgeous greenery and interesting sights. There isn’t much backpacking near Chicago, so it was very exciting to discover Forest Glen.

Besides the backpacking trail, Forest Glen has tons of things to do and see.

Arboretum- The Vermilion County Conservation District has a large collection of specimen trees and shrubs here. Tree guides are available, making it a great place to learn and practice your tree ID skills.

Sugar Bush Maple Syrup House- Forest Glen has been producing maple syrup since the ‘80s and now has a large modern evaporator house in Sugar Bush. Every year they host maple syruping events, and can produce up to 100 gallons of syrup in a single season. That makes Forest Glen the third largest maple syrup producer in the state!

Tree Research Area- Vermilion County has many forestry research projects, a lot of which take place in the Tree Research Area. There is a mix of demonstration areas and study plots.

Doris L. Westfall Prairie Illinois State Nature Preserve- This INSP is a 40-acre mesic and dry-mesic prairie. It is said to be one of the best prairie restorations in the area.

Sycamore Hollow Nature Center- Sycamore Hollow hosts regular educational and school programs, and offers nature displays and exhibits. It was closed when we visited.

Pioneer Homestead- The homestead is primarily used for educational programs, but is accessible to wander around and look at from outside any time. We enjoyed exploring the homestead area. As much as we love nature, it is fun to see other things on a hike.

Pioneer homestead at Forest Glen Preserve

Observation Tower- The observation tower is definitely worth a side hike. The 72-foot tall is one of only four of its kind in Illinois. It is fully open and you can climb to the top- something you rarely find anymore! Josh and Anthony both went up top and said it was really cool.

Fire tower at Forest Glen Preserve — If you look closely you can see Josh at the top of the tower

Hegeler Covered Bridge- Right near the visitor center, the red covered bridge is very picturesque! Liz loves bridges, so of course we had to take a quick stop before hitting the trail.

Family Campground- There is also a family campground with RV & tent sites, which does not take reservations.

River Ridge Back Pack Trail

All about the Trail

The River Ridge Back Pack Trail is a loop trail that is 10.3 miles long. It’s rated as moderate difficulty overall. For backpacking near Chicago, a notoriously flat area, moderate difficulty does feel like the right description- there is a mix of flat and hilly spots, including some steep ridges. Multiple individual trails make up the River Ridge loop, so be sure to have a map and trail descriptions with you- a few intersections can be a little confusing. The trail rules .pdf provided by Forest Glen has a good itinerary with trail descriptions. Another thing to remember is that dogs are allowed- but only if on a leash.

The trailhead is at the Visitor Center parking lot. Trails are marked with a combination of blazes and signs. Blazes are visible when hiking clockwise, which is how most people hike the loop. Hiking counter-clockwise is allowed, it will just be harder to find trail markings if you do.

For first-time backpackers, a two night trip will mean a 3 mile day (parking lot to Group Camp), 4.5 mile day (Group Camp to East Camp), and 3.5 mile day (East Camp to parking lot). Or, you can do a one nighter if you feel more ambitious. Camping at East Camp will mean a 7.5 mile and 3.5 mile day. We did a one night trip with our friends Liz and Anthony. It was the first time Jen and Liz ever went backpacking, so we wanted to keep it short.

Camping at Forest Glen Preserve

Forest Glen has two campgrounds for backpackers- Group Camp and East Camp. Camping is limited to campgrounds only. There is no water in either camp, so you will need to bring water with you, or bring a filtration system for collecting from the Vermilion River. Group Camp has outhouses, but not at East Camp. There are also no trash cans, so be prepared to pack out your trash. Fires are allowed, but only in designated fire pits in campsites. You are also allowed to collect dead wood- just no cutting down live wood.

Backpacks in campsite at Forest Glen Preserve

We camped at Group Camp for our one night. When you first get to Group Camp you’ll see a large empty field. When we got there, there were already scout groups setting up camp here. You can camp here if you want, but if you keep walking you will find smaller sites tucked into the woods. We could see a few other sites from ours, but they were all empty. We also chose one near-ish to the outhouse and never crossed paths with anyone else there. It was a beautiful and spacious site that we really loved.

There is not water at either campsite, but if you bring filtration equipment you can collect from the Vermilion River. It was more difficult than we expected to get to the river from our campsite, and then when we did get there, it wasn’t looking great. The water was pretty still and gross looking. We ended up finding more of a stream offshoot to collect from.

Stream at Forest Glen Preserve — We followed this stream to find a good place to collect water

Josh going to collect water at Forest Glen Preserve — We followed this stream to find a good place to collect water

We ended up cutting the trip short. Liz was newly pregnant and having issues with an elevated heart rate and Jen didn’t have a good fitting pack. This meant we never made it to East Camp, but it was still a great trial run of backpacking for us beginners and a really fun trip over all.

Backpacking Reservations

If you are planning to camp, you will need to fill out the registration form and email it over at least a week before arriving. The registration process was easy and the staff was great to work with over email. We had a few changes before actually arriving and every time Amy from the office was very helpful and quick to respond.

Your reservation guarantees that you will have a site, but sites themselves are first-come, first-serve. When we went, we encountered very few other backpackers. It might be busier in peak season, but honestly I think not many people know about this place so it will probably be pretty quiet.

When you arrive, park at the Visitor Center. You don’t need a parking permit, they will check cars based on the vehicle information you gave on your registration form. This is why it’s important to let the staff know if you change your mind about what vehicle you will be bringing.