Busey Woods

Beautiful, clean, relaxing, fun! There are bathrooms in the facility, a mini free library, a board walk into the woods, lots of birds, squirrels, mushrooms, cool beetles, hiking paths, wildlife.

Busey Woods can be a bit confusing to navigate, especially if you venture off the boardwalk. It's quite large, so be prepared for a longer walk compared to smaller nature centers. You're likely to spot deer during your visit. As a newcomer to the area, I'm not accustomed to nature centers of this size. The trails can take up to an hour or more to complete, whereas I'm used to shorter 15-minute walks. It would be nice to have more rest stops and better maintenance, but I understand the staff is likely occupied with events inside the main building. Remember to use the bathroom there before setting off, as there are no facilities along the trails. Normally, there's a small creek that runs through the forest and forms a swamp, but it has dried up due to the ongoing drought. Despite that, observing the creatures in the swamp is still a magnificent sight. We did encounter a snake, although my partner can't recall its appearance. One great aspect of this nature center is its proximity to a large park where you can go paddle boating and swimming. Additionally, it's conveniently located in the heart of the city, so that's a plus. However, since it's close to the road, some trails can be too near to traffic, which is the only downside in my opinion. Overall, it's the best nature center I've visited so far!

Great easy hike, over half of the trail is planked so those in scooters or wheelchairs will be able to navigate and enjoy the trails too! Great place to take kids to hike. Trail is 90-95% shaded all day.

Excellent hiking spot for the people in town, there are several short trails, I'd say it takes about 1 hour or 1 hour and a half to walk all trails. Even during winter there are plenty of living things to see like deer, trees, squirrels, birds, etc. The boardwalks can be slippery. I wish there were more signs indicating the trails and distances. Plenty of parking spots in front of the nature center. If Busey woods isn't enough, Crystal lake park is right next to it

A very cool woods that is "flooded" for parts of the year. To get to the woods you have to cross a suspension bridge over a river. There is a VERY slippery boardwalk (it rained the same day) throughout the park that connects different platforms that show off different aspects of the woods. Would definitely recommend

Was a cute magical walk and saw many different animals within the first 30 minutes of walking. Saw a couple pairs of Mallard ducks. Very enchanting

This place was probably my favorite part of my trip to Urbana IL! The scenery is amazing and the paths were just enough to fill my need of adventure. Despote the trouble I had finding the parking I definetly will be coming back

Perfect spot for light hiking / nature walk. There's a lot of picnic tables and benches around the area and lots of shade. My husband and I enjoyed our morning here.

Great walking paths, enjoyed the birds and squirrels as I had a short escape from daily routine

Lovely park and well kept trails. Lots of wildlife.

Beautiful park with nice walking paths

Best place in town for a nature hike. There are dirt paths and raised wooden walkways. It's a little close to roads so it never gets quiet.

Hidden gem! Best in town trails that I've found so far (if you're not a fan of pavement). Can't believe I've lived in champaign urbana for most of my life and didn't know about this place! PSA No pets allowed on the trails but you can bring them to crystal lake park which is right next door!

Boardwalk trails make it easy to see your footing in the woods when the sun goes down. If you look up, you just might see an owl looking back at you. ❤🦉❤🦉❤

The trails are great, some are dirt, but the main one is a boardwalk that loops you through the woods and wetland areas. This is a great place to see wildlife and spring ephemeral flowers. To access the trails, you cross a suspension bridge over a steam, which the kids love.

Lots of trail walking look out for mud after a day or two of rain.

Met the first wild buck in my life there!

Awesome little forest in town, very peaceful walk, well maintained paths, and I always see deer when I'm in there :)

We got very close to deer. That made me happy.

These woods were great trail was easy to follow and the views were awesome. Would definitely revisit them in the spring lots to see and beautiful birds and if you're lucky enough you can see the deer.