Fall is in full swing, and with it the annual array of online articles about ways to spend more time outside. You should read them all. Here’s ours, but with a twist. These are all real, and pretty specific, questions we’ve fielded in the last 4 years. Again, different strokes for different folks!

• “I work in the Loop and want more time outside in my work day, but don’t really know where to go.”
  
• Cancer Survivors’ Garden off Randolph is rarely impacted by park closures for festivals, and has nice shaded benches for one-on-ones or solo time. For a longer walking meeting route with minimal street crossings, start at the corner of Balbo and Michigan, head east to Columbus, south to Roosevelt, west to Michigan, and back north to Balbo, that’s 1 mile without crossing any intersections.

•  “I want to sit by moving water and put my feet in it.”
• Three places come to mind. McClaughry Springs in the Palos Preserves. Salt Creek as it flows through Fullersburg Woods. Hickory Creek in Mokena, down the hill from the LaPorte Road entrance.
  
• “Where can my dog just dog out?”
• We assume this means no leash. In Chicago, lots of dogs seem peak dog at the Montrose Dog Beach. But Prairie Wolf in Lake County offers epic doggness.

• "What’s a pretty chill paddle, but isn’t just some pond somewhere? Oh, and I don't have a car. Or a kayak.”
• This could/would be a full-day adventure, but a fun one. A NICTD train to Michigan City drops you off a pleasant 10 minute walk from Harbor Country Adventures, which rents kayaks you can paddle on a very quiet Trail Creek (or Lake Michigan on a calm day). Don’t skip Fish Camp.
  
• "I want to go biking at Indiana Dunes National Park... but I don't have a car or a bike.”
• Take that same NICTD train, but get off at the Beverly Shores Station. Camp Stop General Store rents bikes, and here’s a whole bunch of biking maps for the Dunes. You can ride into the State Park, or head to some great National Park hikes like Cowles Bog.

• “I just want to chill in a hammock.”
• This one is harder than it should be. You technically need a permit to hang a hammock in a Chicago Park. Most of our forest preserve districts say nothing in their statutes about hammocks, but certainly have a lot to say about actions that might damage trees. Ambiguous situations like this lend themselves to confrontations and disproportionate enforcement. Nothing chill about that. Hang in there?

•  “I’ve read about forest therapy, but maybe it’s a West Coast thing?”
• About that… SUM has worked with Sarah at That Forest Feeling, Jess at Reciprocal Forest Bathing, and Alison at Rooted Forest Therapy. Several forest preserves and park districts in the area, along with the Morton Arboretum, offer forest therapy regularly. Definitely try it!
  
• ¿Dónde puedo montar a caballo?
• Cerca de Chicago, trabajamos con Memory Lane Stables, donde puedes alquilar caballos para paseos cortos por los senderos del bosque. Está un poco más lejos, pero también hay un establo en el Chain o' Lakes State Park, y puedes montar a caballo allí. También tienen alquiler de botes y campamento. Es ideal para un fin de semana.

• “I don’t have a bike, but I’ve heard we have some good long bike trails?”
• We do indeed have good long trails. Finding a place that rents bikes near one of those trails can sometimes be a trick. But one good option for either getting on the I&M Canal Trail or on the Palos Preserves trails is 2 Bici in Willow Springs.

• “I want to see old timey baseball. My kids just want to go to farms. What do I do?”
• OK, nobody has actually asked this one. BUT THEY COULD. AND WE’D BE READY. Check out the Chicago Salmon Vintage Base Ball Club and all their games at farms (and other places) coming up this fall!

Text Link