Hiking Atop a Kame at Johnson's Mound Forest Preserve in Elburn, Illinois

 

Hiking Atop a Kame at Johnson's Mound Forest Preserve in Elburn, Illinois

Hiking at Johnson's Mound Forest Preserve in Elburn, IL welcomed us to a splendid afternoon on trails that wound up a glacial hill. We savored forest bathing and the sounds of woodpeckers as we hiked through the beautiful preserve. We quickly noted -- this is a preserve we would like to return to!

The kame at Johnson's Mound Forest Preserve creates a rolling landscape.

A Hill Delighting All

While embarking on what may be our last true winter hike of the season, we noted that Johnson's Mound crafts a fantastic location for a sledding hill. A few children giggled as they slid down the hill on their sleds.

A gentle slope covered with a blanket of snow.

The wooded preserve offers trails with a gentle incline as hikers wind up and down the hill. The main hiking trail at Johnson's Mound is a 2.2 mile looped trail. Some of the trails we hiked on were paved. Snow covered other trails. I love snow hiking, particularly on a sunny day. The snow has a way of making you feel blanketed just as it blankets the forest floor.

The golden sun and snow carpet crafted a warm, comforting scene at
Johnson's Mound Forest Preserve.

A Hike Tracing and Climbing a Kame

As we hiked, we enjoyed tracing the kame before slightly climbing up. A kame is a treasure left to us by glacial ice and water. Kames are stratified gravel hills. The kame at Johnson's Mound rises about 200 feet above the surrounding prairie. We enjoyed the hike up and over the kame. I often here about how flat hiking in northern Illinois can be. However, we do have quite interesting topography including river gorges and remnants left by glaciers. Johnson's Mound offers an excellent example of that.

A lovely snow heart upon a tree stump at Johnson's Mound Forest Preserve.

As we swing towards spring, I will miss some of the joys of the winter forest. We love to discover all sorts of snow designs like the snow heart above. Plus, we like to locate animal tracks in the snow. However, we anticipate appreciating future hikes at Johnson's Mound to view the woodland and prairie wildflowers. We are pretty grateful for the lovely weather last Sunday allowing us to explore this fantastic preserve!