Veteran Acres Park

Surprisingly hilly, beautiful oaks tree. Planted sometime ago red pine forest. Trails are mostly wide. Limited parking. By Nature Center. Saq lot of people with dogs there! Very lovely place!

Huge and beautiful park near downtown Crystal Lake. Perfect place to take a stroll on a crisp autumn morning. Also has nice playgrounds for kids, a pond, and a basketball court. And lots of big shady trees!

Our family loves Veteran Acres! We love visiting year round. In the warmer months my children love the splash pad, hiking, and exploring the trails. In the winter months they enjoy playing on the playground and hiking around the pond and visiting the Crystal Lake Park District Nature Center we can walk up to from the path. An enjoyable park we've come to the last 15 years and my husband even remembers going to this park when he was a kid. Beautiful place to enjoy!

Such a wonderful place! Beautiful trails, gorgeous views, and friendly staff!
Oh, and dogs are allowed! 😍
We're definitely coming back!

I had an amazing time exploring and hiking Veteran Acres Park. There is a wide variety of tree species and a rolling prairie. There is a special type of wetland called a fen in the forest preserve adjacent to here. The nature center is fascinating and is host to good information and some live animals. I recommend anyone living near Chicago to visit this beautiful land.

What a wonderful thing to do on hot days! A very well taken care of property, the splash pad has a good enough amount of seating that my husband and I have always found a table or bench to sit at and be able to see where our children aren playing. The Park area has activities for all ages of kids, my kids are 1, 5 and 9 and they all had a wonderful time here. I know that there are more parts to this park but my family has not yet explored them I'm sure they're just as wonderful though as the part we did get to see!

We love it here! Walking trails and splash pad are our favorites. My dad was a happy tourist on the trails during his vacation from England. Bathrooms are very close to the splash pad, not the cleanest but usable in a pinch.
Bring spare clothes and lots of sunscreen and hand sanitizer, the soap in the bathrooms isn't always full. Bug spray is a must if you go anywhere near the lake.
Highly recommend this place.

Always love this place. Trails are nice for walking. Park is clean, nice bathrooms as well.

Great place for hiking and cycling. The veterans acres park borders with another state park which makes it a larger territory to enjoy. It's a mix of paved road and hiking trails, with most trails running through the mixed forest so you can enjoy the fresh air and forest sounds. A lot of deers walking in the early morning. Not too busy during the weekdays but may get crowded during the weekend or events.

Nice park, pretty pond, good hiking trails in the woods and a groomed path around the pond. If you play Pokémon Go there are a lot of pokestops and gyms.

This park has everything. Two playgrounds one for the younger kids and one for the older kids, a small section with water spouts themed as plants that you can play around in if it is hot on a particular day. Keep in mind that they are only on if it is hot outside. There is also a bike and hiking trail that takes you around a big pond where you can sometimes see frogs, turtles, and sometimes deer out in the bushes. There is also tennis courts, a basketball court, and a small baseball field that people typically use for kickball. There is a huge hill with super flat open ground at the bottom which is great for sledding in the winter. There are even more hiking trails that go on pretty far towards the back of the flat ground. Don't worry there are restrooms right near the entrance of the park and there are picnic tables if you ever want to eat lunch when you are there. Overall this park has SO much to do and I've been going here for years and I'm still not sick of it, it's just such a great park and I highly recommend going to it.

This park checks all the boxes. Awesome playground for all ages. A breathtaking trail around a pond teeming with wildlife. Sledding hills. Pavilions. Clean restrooms. You name it. Check this out.

We have had a blast here rain or shine! A lot to do for many ages! The splash pad is so much fun to cool off in on a hot day and the playground and picnic shelter provides a nice break up of activity to spend a lot of time and run the littles energy out for a good nap time with no fights!! We love this park and will be back again and again!!!

The park is very clean. I have been running the trails. Great place for a walk or hike

Quite the jewel of a park. Beautiful hiking trails. Has everything from native open prairie areas to thick woods. Many parking areas around park allows you to access different trails.
Has a great nature center (entrance off of Route 176 on South end), super fun and education for kids and adults.
Main parking area off of Walkup Ave on the west side of park has playground and water feature area, along with real bathrooms and a large pavilion. In the winter sledding is popular with a great long n fast hill.
No matter what your into, I think this place has it, except no skatepark.

Fantastic trails no sound of cars, all different path types and lengths, very wooded and hilly. Also have clean public bathrooms!

Autumn is great for some long hikes with some good scenery

Playground with splash pad. Bike trails close by. Connected with nature center. Huge lawn with baseball field

Great place. Great play area and splash pad for the kids.

Walked there recently. My legs were hurting by the end, but I took several pictures