McHenry County, 5 mile hike at Fox Bluff Conservation area, 3 mile option

Watch for updates, may be changed to also include a new area Devin told me about! I will find out if its possible to connect two adjacent areas in coming weeks.

This is hike 1 of 2 hikes I'm hosting this weekend. To rsvp for Sunday's hike please visit www.meetup.com/chicagoland-trailblazers-hiking-group/events/307349098

This hike is cross posted with the Trailblazers hiking group and my guest rsvp will include members of www.meetup.com/chicagoland-trailblazers-hiking-group/events/304721150

Summary
I discovered this preserve while hiking with my son in Summer of 2020 and like it so much that I've visited every year. What this little preserve lacks in size it fully makes up for with its beauty!

On this hike we will end up back at the parking lot after only 3 miles. We'll also take a very short easy .25 mile hike to the Fox river. Its less than 2 hours for a 3 mile option.

For those who wish a longer hike, we will repeat the hike again and take a few alternate trails while repeating some of the previous ones.

This is mostly an easy hike but features inclines and declines with up to 100 foot elevation change. A few areas of the trail are moderate hike with some kind of steep hills and I was glad I brought my hiking poles for those. Please be sure to wear hiking shoes or boots with good traction. They help with steep areas. Some parts of the trail are 2 feet wide and most are 4 to 5 feet wide. No mud encountered, its packed dirt or grass and no bikes allowed.

The preserve has very clean restroom facilities.

This hike is Cross posted with https://www.meetup.com/chicagohos/events/300123273/ and my guest rsvp includes members of that group.

Features of this hike:

• 3 to 4 foot waterfall,
• Steep ravine and looks like they have now groomed this section to be a formal new trail. Its no longer considered off trail. This enables hikers to go up and down if they wish and others can wait at the top.
• 100 foot elevation gain according to Alltrails
• Wildflowers along the trail including Mayapple, Virginia Bluebell, Dutchman breeches
• Rushing creeks thru the preserve and stepping stones to go over them
• Thick canopy of forest the entire hike, deer and rabbits can pop out at any time.
• Watch boats speed down the Fox river

Location
1300 Cold Springs Rd. Algonquin IL

Directions
The closest intersection is Main st and Algonquin.

Where to meet
Meet in front of the information sign

Details
I almost wrote this one off due to its short trail lengths. I was only able to get 3 miles in. But they were such beautiful great miles! If a trail is too short for a hike you want to do, you can just repeat it a second time.

The trails did not have too many roots and rocks popping up all over the place. There are a few here and there and take notice in some areas.

Websites
https://www.mccdistrict.org/visit___explore/places_to_go/find_a_site/fox_bluff.php

https://files.mccdistrict.org//All%20Sites/Fox-Bluff-Site_History.pdf