West DuPage Woods Forest Preserve by Patricia Hayden
The main entrance for the West DuPage Woods Forest preserve is on the east side of Rt. 59 about a ½ mile north of Roosevelt Road. There is also a secondary entrance on Gary’s Mill Road east of Roosevelt Road and west of Winfield Road. When you turn into the main entrance to the preserve, you’ll take a short winding drive to the large parking lot that has multiple handicapped parking spots. Exiting my car, I headed toward the “Information” sign and the trail entrance. Although I didn’t see a sign on the trail itself, I felt confident from checking the information sign that I was at the beginning of the Red Oak Trail, so I started my walk keeping the information sign and portable washroom on my left.
As I walked the limestone Red Oak Trail, which is a little over a mile in length, there was a very nice balance of sun and shade and I encountered some medium inclines along the way. I only saw a few other people on the trail, so it was very quiet and peaceful. There were some very vibrant fall colors to see – mostly on the Sumac bushes and Hickory and Maple trees.
I continued my walk and did see a signpost confirming I was indeed on the Red Oak Trail. I could continue on that trail which would loop around and bring me back to my starting point, or per the signpost, I could veer left and take the White Pine Trail which cuts across the Red Oak Trail and that would also bring me back to my starting point. I decided to take the shortcut on the White Pine Trail (also limestone) and made my way back to the parking lot. Note that if I had continued on the Red Oak Trail, I would have reached a point where I could connect with the West Branch DuPage River Trail, which is approximately 1.5 miles long, but doesn’t form a loop.
There are a handful of other trails to explore if you park at the secondary entrance – I believe I will be going back to walk several of those in the future.
More information about the site can be found here: https://www.dupageforest.org/places-to-go/forest-preserves/west-dupage-woods.
This post is part of the “Take a Hike” series by Patricia Hayden. To learn more about this blog and see information about all other featured hikes click here.