Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center - Willow Springs, IL
Posted by: 
adgorn
N 41° 42.526 W 087° 52.613
16T E 427048 N 4617813
Originally, a real one-room schoolhouse constructed in 1886, located within a few miles of its current site. Moved to this location in the 1950s and opened as a Nature Center on May 15, 1955.
Waymark Code: WM416K
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 06/22/2008
Views: 50
Run by the Cook County Forest Preserve District. Learn more at (
visit link)
Inside the schoolhouse are many exhibits: a large aquarium containing the common kinds of native fish; smaller aquarium containing minnows, tadpoles, salamanders, crawfish and aquatic insects; terraria containing frogs, toads, turtles and small snakes; examples of the common wildflowers when in bloom; habitat exhibits loaned by the Illinois State Museum; and many others. There is always something new. A naturalist is on duty to answer questions, help you use the nature center, and start you off on the 3 miles of self-guiding nature trails which surround the area.
The nature center sits near the crown of Mount Forest Island, a glacially sculpted, roughly triangular highland between ancient Lake Chicago and its two spillways. The 40-acre Long John Slough dominates the view from the nature center. The state-endangered osprey and black-crowned night-heron take full advantage of the man-made water body, as do other summering birds.
An new 18,000-square-foot nature center is currently (June 2008) being built next to the historic schoolhouse, serving as a spacious, hands-on learning facility for the school's many visitors.
The entrance is on 104th Ave. (Willow Springs Road), one mile west of U.S. 45 and a half-mile south of 95th St. There is ample parking space. Over 450,000 people come here each year to learn more about nature.