Join us for our 55th annual Meeting of the Members at Sweeney Woods Preserve. Register here!   Agenda:  10:30am Optional Guide Hike 12:00pm Lunch (boxed or bring your own) 12:30pm Formal Membership Meeting, Year in Review, and Volunteer and Board Member Recognition   In conformance

Help protect the biodiversity of one of central Illinois' best prairie restorations! We will removing invasive teasel before it goes to seed.  Involves some physical activity navigating unlevel ground and using pruners/loppers.  Please bring water, work gloves, sturdy shoes and long pants. Sign up to volunteer!   For more information: About Letcher Basin Land & Water

Please note the date has changed due to weather.  The event has been rescheduled to Friday October 1st at 7pm. Thank you!   Experience the stars, moon, planets over the prairie of Letcher Basin Land & Water Reserve  while enjoying wine, fruit, and cheese included with admission.  Experts from the Twin City Amateur Astronomers will be

A Mackinaw Cache blade and a collection of artifacts from the Mackinaw River ParkLands welcomes renowned archeologist, anthropologist, and historian Dr. Michael Wiant to Chinquapin Bluffs on Saturday, October 9th.  Dr. Wiant will pull from his extensive research on local Indigenous societies to present on the pre-settlement history of the Mackinaw River valley, focusing on

Help volunteer Mary Jo Adams establish a new trail on the south section of Chinquapin Bluffs by removing brush along the trail. Involves some physical activity navigating uneven ground, using loppers/handsaws, and handheld herbicide sprayers. Please bring water, work gloves, sturdy shoes, long pants, and bug spray. Sign up to volunteer!   Click here for

Help keep the invasive plant Lespedeza cuneata from further invading our prairie restoration.  This workday, led by Volunteer Steward Mary Jo Adams, will involve physical activity navigating unlevel ground, and pulling and/or lopping of plants.  Please bring water, work gloves, sturdy shoes, long pants, and bug spray. Sign up to volunteer!   Click here for directions

  Collect seeds from a tallgrass prairie remnant!  We will meet at the McDonald's in Chenoa before caravanning to Cayuga Ridge, which is just north of Pontiac.  Please bring water, work gloves, sturdy shoes and long pants.  This workday will involve physical activity navigating unlevel ground. Sign up to volunteer!  

What better way to bring in the new year than time outside?  Join us for a guided hike through one of our best-kept secrets.  Our New Year's Day hike at Kenyon-Baller Woods has been rescheduled to December 31st at 1pm due to a winter storm forecasted for New year's Day.   We’ll explore new trails and

Join us for our Volunteer Earth Day event! We will be cutting honeysuckle on the Bunney tract at the Mohr Preserve. Honeysuckle can cause severe damage to our natural prairies. On our ParkLands properties, it is a constant battle with species like honeysuckle. Come help our land stewards, who work tirelessly, to cut back and

A spring favorite is back!  Local naturalists will lead guided tours of Merwin Preserve’s vibrant spring wildflowers on Saturday, April 23rd.  Four sessions are available: 10:00am, 10:15am, 10:30am, and 10:45am. Register Here!

Who would like to go for a bike ride through some beautiful restored prairie and woodlands along the Mackinaw River this summer?  That’s right! ParkLands will be hosting our fifth annual bike ride on July 09, 2022. Won’t you join us and support the ParkLands mission of preserving prairie and forest habitat along the Mackinaw

    Our annual river event is back as we will again explore the river for a hands-on learning opportunity about the Mackinaw River’s amazing aquatic diversity at ParkLands’ Chinquapin Bluffs Land & Water Reserve . The entrance is on the south side of the preserve and the directions can be found here.  Yes, we’ll