Outside Wildwood

The Wildwood Nature Center has one and a half acres of restored native prairie. Our tallgrass prairie blooms throughout the summer with a wide variety of native plants.

Since the prairie began in 2001, we have documented 88 different native prairie plants, a flock of migrating Monarch butterflies, Ruby-throated hummingbirds, American Toads, a Meadow Vole, and a decrease in the overpopulated Canadian Goose.

The Wildwood Prairie has received numerous awards and certificates including:

  • 2001 Conservation Program Award from the Illinois Parks and Recreation Association
  • 2006 Conservation and Native Landscape Award from the United States Environmental Protection Agency and Chicago Wilderness
  • 2006 Silver Landscape Award for Ecological Planting from the Illinois Landscape Contractors Association
  • 2009 Certified by the National Wildlife Federation as an official Wildlife Habitat Site
  • 2010 Certified by the Illinois Audubon Society as a Bird and Butterfly Sanctuary

Wildwood Woodland Walk

This quaint woodland walk is home to an impressive variety of native woodland wildflowers and plants. The woodland was enhanced in 2006 with a woodchip path and wooden signs and expanded in 2009. Visit during February through June, and discover Mayapples, Snow Drops, five different species of Trillium, Jack in the Pulpit, Wild Ginger, Bluebells, Solomon Seal, and more.

Walking Paths

Walking paths surround the Wildwood Nature Center, Woodland Walk, Wildwood Prairie, and Maine Park Ponds. The paths also lead to a wooden fishing deck overlooking one of the ponds, two rock landing areas, and the Sam Biardo Prairie Observation Deck.

Wildwood Prairie