Meacham Grove Forest Preserve by Patricia Hayden
The entrance for the Meacham Grove Forest Preserve is on the west side of Circle Avenue about .25 miles north of Lake Street. When you turn into the main entrance, it’s a short drive to the fairly large parking lot which has several handicapped spots available along with several portable washrooms.
Exiting my car, I headed toward the “Information” sign that informed me this space is a coyote habitat, there are picnic benches available, and fishing is allowed in the 32-acre Maple Lake. Maple Lake is known to contain largemouth bass, crappie, channel catfish, and bluegill (see link at the end of this article for more information about fishing). Be mindful of the “creel limits” which limits the number of any species of fish which may be legally taken per day. I also learned the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission gave this area an extra level of protection in 2012 by designating it as the Meacham Grove Nature Preserve.
As I walked past the information sign toward the trail, I saw several clearly marked signposts indicating trail names and directions which was great to see. You can take the longer route around Maple Lake on the Maple Lake Trail or if you’d prefer a bit of a shorter route, you can start on the Maple Lake Trail, veer onto the North Central Regional DuPage Trail and then hook back up to the Maple Lake Trail to loop back around to the trail beginning, which is what I did. There is a nice bridge to cross over about halfway along the trail.
It was a great day for a walk – the sun was shining and the winter temperature was moderate, so there were a lot of people walking on the trails, many with their pups, and also several people riding bikes. Both Maple Lake and North Central Regional DuPage are limestone trails approximately 1.3 miles in length with both having some medium to medium-high elevations.
There is one more trail at the site called the Savanna Trail. This trail is about .5 miles and you’ll see signs for it if you are walking the North Central Regional DuPage Trail. More information about the site can be found here: https://www.dupageforest.org/places-to-go/forest-preserves/meacham-grove and information about fishing is here https://www.dupageforest.org/things-to-do/recreational-activities/fishing.
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.