Middle Fork Forest Preserve
My cute Adam wandering around the South Loop trail. Photo by Jordan Goebig.
Part of the Champaign County Forest Preserve, Middle Fork Forest Preserve is located near Penfield, Ill, about 40 miles northeast of Champaign-Urbana and an easy drive for many other Central Illinois towns. Somehow, it took over two years of living in Champaign (and 10+ in Central Illinois) before we made it over for a hike at this designated dark skies park.
The Trails
Middle Fork Forest Preserve has over seven miles of trails. Many of them are interconnected, but there are two trails that “stand-alone” and would require you to drive and park at their entrances.
There are many trailheads off of the campgrounds, but since we were just visiting, I’d recommend parking at the Activity Center and taking the mowed grass path to the South Loop Trail (2.2 miles). This trail connects you to Oak Burr (2.2 miles), Prairie View (.8 mile), and the Midland Trail (1.4 miles).
The trails weave you through prairie and forest. It’s a fairly flat trail system, so good walking for all skill levels…and great for families with young kids.
There are some trail signs once you are on them, but I’d recommend downloading the trail map. They also had several kiosks in the park that encourage hiking and provided trail maps, which is always nice to see!
Things We Love
We visited in April 2021, and spring was in full force. The wildflowers are starting to bloom, and the first mile of our hike was a wave of gorgeous bluebells. It just puts you in a happy place when you’re surrounded by that much color!
There is an eagle nesting in the forest preserve (in a large tree off of a trail), and we were fortunate enough to see the eagle - a highlight for Adam for sure. Plus, lots of other wildlife critters, big and small, made appearances on our journey. P.S. Don’t fuck with the eagle - either it or I will hurt you.
There are some really beautiful lowland sections that allow you to get an expansive view of the forests and trees.
It’s quiet, serene, and even though the campground was busy, we had the trails entirely to ourselves on a warm spring day.
Things to Know
It was already pretty buggy while we hiked, especially since the trails meander around a few creeks. And we did pull a few ticks off of us. I would definitely recommend plenty of bug spray.
They do have vaulted toilets in some of the parking areas for hikers/fishers, and slightly nicer restrooms in the campground area.
We drove through the campground area, and we were impressed. The spots were well-spaced apart, there’s a small camp store (open seasonally), and lots of outdoor play areas for children.
It was Illinois’ first designated dark sky park. Pretty cool!