Springbrook Prairie Forest Preserve, Naperville

Springbrook Prairie is freaking awesome. Seriously, it's a gem in the midst of disgusting suburban sprawl and strip malls. (That said, if looking out across a beautiful, serene prairie and seeing a looming Wal*Mart in the distance is enough to make you cry, maybe... don't put on your glasses when you stop by.)The main path here is about 5.5 miles in a loop, which can't really be shortened unless you want to take an out-and-back approach. There are mile markers every half mile, so that's not terribly difficult to execute.

We really enjoyed how easy it was to navigate through this path. This isn’t always the case with the paths out here! We took the kids with their bikes and a little disappointed that the paths were gravel at first. But it worked out well. It actually adds cushion to walking and it didn’t interfere with the girls being able to navigate their bikes. One was even a very new rider.