Lyman Woods & William F. Sherman, Jr. Interpretive Center

Great Trails , clean facilities, bathroom friendly lots of indoor caged animals and taxidermy on walls

Absolutely gorgeous gem of a preserve in downers grove. Even though it is not huge you can really feel like you are a millions miles away, the beautiful old oak groves and marshland areas feel so ancient and wild. There are plenty of trails, an interpretive center with water and restrooms, a nice garden and lots of interesting signage throughout. I would highly recommend checking out this stunning pocket of nature!

My daughter loves going to camp here, beautiful grounds and great programming for kids.

Nice hidden spot within the city. Good for a short walk, unfortunately because of its location you can still hear a lot of noise from cars… but hey that’s Chicagoland for ya!

Lovely place to visit...get a map I went in a circle for a bit. 😆

4/28/24 - great park, loads of trail, nice for frogs, turtles and birds.

Great trail. Close to the expressway. Good place to get your steps in!

Celebrated my daughter’s birthday party here and could not have been more impressed!

Did the lyman woods honey and alter brewing tour. Great experience! Education was pretty well done.

Such a beautiful and calming place.

The park itself is open an hour before sunrise and an hour after sunset- I believe the hours listed are for the building. The preserve trails are well-maintained, and include paved areas, grass pavers, and dirt paths. Not stroller-friendly.
The site has a veggie garden, bee hives, a pavilion, and a nature center building. During the summer, the latter two are often in use by the parks department classes (which, by the way, are awesome! The staff here really cares about nature as well as the kids they are entertaining!). The classes are cute, especially for the youngest kids.

Lyman woods has beautifully maintained trails and exceptional programming. It's an amazing educational resource for both kids and adults.

Beautiful woodland. Lovely place to hike. They have snowshoe rentals for $5/2hrs! So much fun.

This was my first time visiting. It was lovely. The trails were all really well maintained and it was fun to explore. I went with my two sons (1 year and almost 3 year-old) and they had a lot of fun exploring. My mom came with us, too. I was able to push a stroller over all the trails - although not 100% recommended. It is possible, if needed.

Gorgeous! You will almost certainly see Great White Egrets or Great Blue Herons if you walk to the marsh. Trails are very well maintained and easy to traverse. The signage can be a bit confusing, so try to keep track of where you are to avoid getting lost. Absolutely unmissable, a beautiful public park.

This is a place that I am now obsessed with. I stopped here on a whim and explored quite a bit. There is a nice little center for learning that is currently closed due to covid, but all of the trails are open. The trails are super nice with lots of space to keep 6ft apart. Most of the trails are paved but some are just wood chips which is actually nice for a change. The wildlife especially the birds are immaculate!! If you have an afternoon free or even an hour, I suggest going here.

we love Lyman woods- we went recently for the scarecrow exhibits and some beautiful fall hiking/kid exploring. I didnt think the visitor center would be open but it was- cool exhibits and live turtles.

This place is amazing! I’ve been coming here since I was a young kid. It has been beautiful seeing the landscape change over the years from woodlands to wetlands and back again. They have improved upon some of the paths but sadly abandoned others that were quite beautiful to walk. If you look for them you can still follow them but be prepared to get a little dirty. The paths can sometimes be a little muddy but I have never walked around Lyman Woods and not seen at least one wild animal. Small Birds, deer, ducks, swans, geese, heron, fish, turtles, frogs, squirrels, beaver, muskrats... there is always some action going on there. Additionally, the classes and events that they organize there are very cool. Not just for kids either!

Best place to hike!! Been coming here for years and will continue for years! Birds and wildlife are so amazing. Today we saw 3 turkeys there. Awesome!!!

Don’t be misguided by any “negative nellies” leaving bad reviews (like Miranda), none of what she said is true, and the hours to which staff are there on the grounds are very very minimal, that’s how I know she was “one hit wonder” at Lymans Woods.

This place is spectacular! Plenty of land and woods for hiking in. The staff is always friendly and helpful. There are all kinds of items to take on a hike inside. Especially for kids. Binoculars, magnifying glasses, etc... They also have wonderful events and classes.