Where should you walk in Downers Grove this fall?
Lyman Woods has the trails and the interpretive center, but no dogs or bikes are permitted. Patriots Park is the dog-friendly option, McCollum Park just finished a $2 million renovation, and Maple Grove and Hidden Lake are the two least-visited preserves inside the village.
The first time someone drives out to Lyman Woods with the dog in the back seat, they find out the hard way. No dogs. Also no bikes, no cross-country skis. The Illinois Nature Preserve designation that protects the oak woods inside Lyman Woods also restricts what can move through it, and that rule catches a lot of first-timers off guard.
That single fact reshapes the map of where Downers Grove actually walks this fall, because the town's most photographed nature spot and its most-used one are not the same place.
The Flagship, and the Fine Print
Ask a resident where to send a visitor and Lyman Woods comes up first. The Downers Grove Park District describes more than 135 acres of woodlands, wetlands, and prairie, with two and a half miles of trail and the William F. Sherman Jr. Interpretive Center, which opened in 2003. Inside are three kames, glacially deposited gravel hills, and a stand of oak woods undisturbed since the Lyman family bought the land in 1839.
What surprises people is how close it came to not existing.
A Park District poll found 62% of residents favored preserving the woods. The proposal was still defeated at a Village Council meeting. Residents appealed, the Council reconsidered, and the joint purchase of 81.5 acres finally passed 3 to 2, a tri-governmental agreement between the Village, the Park District, and the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County. The land was preserved in 1987.
It got closer than that in the nineties. When Town and Country Homes bought the parcel at Highland and 31st and planned a townhome and office development, activists pushed a referendum to save what they called "Downers' Last Grove." On March 19, 1996, it passed by 12 votes out of more than 14,000 cast.
The Park That Got the Money
McCollum Park has been renovated in phases since 2022, when the tennis courts were redone and the splash pad went in. Adventure Falls Sprayground and Mini Golf opened in 2024.
This summer finished the big one. A new playground, outdoor fitness area, game areas, a new pavilion, and renovated horseshoe courts wrapped in mid-July. The total project ran roughly $2 million, with $600,000 covered by an Open Space Land Acquisition and Development grant the district was awarded in December 2024. The playground it replaced was installed in 2005.
A tennis-to-pickleball conversion is budgeted for this year as well.
If your mental picture of McCollum is from a couple of years ago, it is out of date.
Where the Dogs Actually Go
Patriots Park, on 55th Street between Main and Fairview. The paved path circles Barth Pond, with parking at both the east and west ends of the loop, so you can do a short lap or a long one. Flat, paved, and no preserve rulebook.
The Two Nobody Walks
The Park District lists only two DuPage County forest preserves inside Downers Grove itself: Hidden Lake, east of Route 53 just south of Route 56, and Maple Grove, north of Maple Avenue near Belmont Road.
Maple Grove is the one worth knowing about. The 81-acre preserve is what remains of the maple stand that gave the town its name. Before European settlement, Chief Aptakisic, likely Potawatomi, claimed it as his sugar bush and returned year after year to boil sap into sugar. Later settlers tapped the same trees.
It became a preserve because residents pushed the county Board of Supervisors for something within walking distance of the village. In November 1919, the Supervisors inspected the woods on the Marshall Field estate. Marshall Field III offered the county as much land as it wanted at $200 an acre, a price the county itself called low. Field said he thought the forest preserve idea was a good one and wanted to do what he could to make it possible. It became a preserve in 1920.
There is a thread here worth pulling. The land Field sold had been assembled decades earlier by Arthur Charles Ducat, the Civil War general whose estate became Denburn Woods. Ducat bought 800 acres in 1872 intending to develop it, laid out roads, then sold 700 acres to Field in 1892. Two of the quietest places in Downers Grove trace back to the same man.
The Short Version
- Lyman Woods (901 31st St.): two and a half miles of trail, interpretive center, no dogs or bikes
- Patriots Park (55th St. between Main and Fairview): paved loop around Barth Pond, dog-friendly, flat
- Maple Grove (near Maple Ave. and Belmont Rd.): 81 acres, remnant maple forest, quiet
- Hidden Lake (east of Rt. 53, south of Rt. 56): the village's other in-limits preserve, least trafficked
Why This Fall Is Different
The Park District built a yearlong "Winnie the Pooh in Downers Grove" program around the character's centennial. Storybook character homes line the Lyman Woods trails, and life-sized cutouts sit in eleven neighborhood parks:
- Winnie the Pooh, Fishel Park
- Piglet, McCollum Park
- Tigger, Patriots Park
- Eeyore, Gelwicks Park
- Kanga and Roo, Washington Park
- Owl, Gilbert Park
- Rabbit, O'Brien Park
- Christopher Robin, Hummer Park
- Heffalump, Doerhofer Park
- Woozles, Whitlock Park
- Honey Bees, Ebersold Park
The character homes at Lyman Woods are up through mid-October. The Park District warns that parking fills up, especially mornings, and suggests weekday afternoons. Plan an hour to an hour and a half for the full two-mile route.
The series builds toward a celebration in October marking 100 years since A.A. Milne published the first Winnie the Pooh book. After that, it goes away.
One more anchor: the Downtown Downers Grove Market runs every Saturday through October 17.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are dogs allowed at Lyman Woods?
No. Dogs, bikes, and cross-country skis are not permitted, due to the Illinois Nature Preserve designation protecting the oak woods. Patriots Park on 55th Street is the dog-friendly alternative.
What forest preserves are inside Downers Grove?
Two: Maple Grove, north of Maple Avenue near Belmont Road, and Hidden Lake, east of Route 53 just south of Route 56.
Where are the Winnie the Pooh cutouts in Downers Grove?
Eleven neighborhood parks have life-sized cutouts, with character homes along the Lyman Woods trails through mid-October.
I spend a lot of time in these neighborhoods for reasons that have nothing to do with real estate. If you are weighing a move within Downers Grove or into it and want a read on a specific block, park proximity, or what a street actually feels like day to day, call or text me at 847.609.0570 or visit robbrannigan.com.
Additional Resources
- Denburn Woods, Downers Grove: The Estate That Became a Neighborhood
- Fall 2026 in Downers Grove: Every Event Worth Putting on the Calendar
- Orchard Brook, Downers Grove: Neighborhood Guide and Home Values
Written by Rob Brannigan (IL License #475.164040), RENE + SRS. Lifelong Downers Grove resident. Data-driven guidance for sellers and buyers in Downers Grove and surrounding communities.
