Keep Your Dog On-Leash 

It may be tempting to let your dog run off-leash on the beautiful new lawns at The Preserve of Highland Park.  Though The Preserve may look like a traditional park with its paved trails and mowed lawns, it is a natural area and home to hundreds of wild birds and animals.   To make sure our new park is fun and safe for everyone, we require that dogs always be kept on a leash.

There is evidence that dogs off-leash can be detrimental to wildlife.  Most birds and other wildlife perceive dogs as predators. Impacts include: 

  1. Displacement – The presence of dogs causes wildlife to move away, temporarily, or permanently reducing the amount of available habitat in which to feed, breed and rest. Animals become less active during the day to avoid dog interactions. Furthermore, the scent of dogs repels wildlife, and the effects remain after the dogs are gone. 
  2. Disturbance – Animals are alarmed and cease their routine activities. This increases the amount of energy they use, while simultaneously reducing their opportunities to feed. Repeated stress causes long-term impacts on wildlife including reduced reproduction and growth, suppressed immune system and increased vulnerability to disease and parasites.

It is against City law and Park District ordinance to have a dog off-leash in any of our parks, except in designated areas. Dogs off-leash are not in your control. They may:

There are several options for off-leash fun in the community. The Park District of Highland Park has two dog parks available to registered members:

Debbie Gottlieb Beitler Dog Park at Larry Fink Memorial Park – open year-round (701 Deer Creek Parkway)
A relaxed park-like atmosphere with two off-leash exercise areas, depending on the size of your dog.

Highland Park Golf Learning Center– open mid-December through mid-March* (2205 Skokie Valley Highway)
A large outdoor venue for your dog to run off some of that cabin fever energy.

Purchase a Dog Membership

There is much to enjoy and explore in the Park District of Highland Park’s newest open space: The Preserve of Highland Park.  One of its most notable features is located off-the-beaten paths. The Turtle Meadow was created as a landward retreat for some important semi-aquatic creatures who live on the property. Jokes Rebecca Grill, the Park District’s natural areas manager, “If we build it, will turtles come?”

Three species of turtles have so far been identified on the property. Painted turtles have been seen sitting atop logs in the north pond with box turtles on the nearby shoreline. Large snapping turtles have been spotted making their stately way along the river side path.

These sightings inspired community members and staff during the planning process for The Preserve that began in 2019. “We wanted to honor the environment by creating specialized habitat for this new park and its creatures,” Grill said. Turning former sand bunkers into turtle nesting habitat was one creative way to accomplish this.

When we talk about Illinois, we don’t generally talk about turtles, but there are 17 species of these ancient creatures living in the state. Grill says that six are on the endangered species list due to habitat loss. “We’re just trying to do our part in the effort to protect the turtles. We knew these creatures existed here; how could we help them?”

Research into creating an ideal nesting habitat for the turtles found that turtles need sandy soil in an unshaded, wide-open area. “Fortuitously, we have 48 sand bunkers on the property from its previous incarnation as a golf course,” notes Grill. “We re-purposed some of them to create the habitat.”

The Turtle Meadow was placed at the Preserve’s north end, designated as a more quiet and protected area. A turtle-themed Sand Play Area was installed closer to The Preserve’s entrance off Park Avenue to engage children with two turtle shell-shaped climbing mounds and a sand area where children can dig for turtle fossils.

Instrumental in bringing Turtle Meadow to fruition, Grill says, was Shayna Zavell, a junior at Highland Park High School, whose family has been avid supporters of the Park District. “My family has been volunteering for the Park District for as long as I can remember,” Zavell says. “Both my brothers were Eagle Scouts, so they did projects with Rebecca. I reached out to her to ask if there were any projects I could contribute to because I am interested in conservation. So, she told me about the turtle project.”

Zavell undertook research into what the turtles would need in their newly created habitat. She also helped with the informational signage at Turtle Meadow and the Sand Play Area and measures—encircling the areas where the turtles lay eggs with mesh—to help protect turtle eggs from predators, including raccoons and coyotes. “The goal is to increase turtle populations,” she says.

Zavell hopes The Turtle Meadow and the Sand Play Area will raise community awareness. “I don’t think most people know there are even turtles in Highland Park,” she said. “It’s important we help these fascinating species.”

For more information or to volunteer to help monitor the turtles, email Rebecca Grill at [email protected] or call the Park District at (847) 831-3810.

The Preserve of Highland Park is located at 1207 Park Ave West.  Conversion of the site from its historical use as a golf course began in November 2020 and officially opened to the public in June 2022.   Today, The Preserve of Highland Park celebrates nature and our place in it. The unique 100+ acre property was designed to take advantage of the interesting golf-related topography and includes green lawns, nature-based play areas, specialized native gardens, restored woodlands, and walking and biking trails that connect neighborhoods and downtown Highland Park, and regional biking trails. Visitors can immerse themselves in the sights, sounds, and experiences of nature and outdoor play.

Be a Pooper Scooper!

Anyone who’s a dog owner has been there. You’ve been playing fetch with your dog for the last half hour, and just when it’s time to start walking back home, he crouches down and leaves a big pile. And then comes the dreaded moment when you know that it’s time to clean up. But wouldn’t it be so much easier to just leave the mess? No one will know it was you…

But if you care about your health, your dog’s health and your community, it’s imperative that you clean up after your dog. Here’s why:

We all get tired and sluggish, and doggie droppings are quite unpleasant – so we don’t blame you for not wanting to pick up after your dog. Because we care about you, your dog and our environment, we put together a list of tips to help make clean-up time a little bit easier:

Be a Dog Park Member!

The best option to give you and your dog safe exercise is to become a member of our dog parks. Membership to a dog park is a wonderful way for you and your dog to play and socialize freely in a safe environment with other dogs and owners. In Highland Park, the Debbie Gottlieb Dog Park (year round) and Highland Park Golf Learning Center Dog Park (mid-Dec – mid-March) feature two off-leash exercise areas – one for big dogs and one for small dogs.  Our dog parks are available to registered dog park members.  Learn more and become a member.

We invite all residents to celebrate Family Health & Fitness Day, and discover we are building a strong, healthy and resilient community through the power of parks and recreation. To celebrate, simply gather with family and friends to get active at any Park District park, beach or facility.

Community members can participate by doing the following: 

The Park District of Highland Park offers year-round opportunities for families and individuals to stay active and healthy. In fact, Living close to parks and other recreation infrastructure is consistently related to higher physical activity levels for both adults and youth. Moreover, parks provide a connection to nature, which studies demonstrate relieves stress, tightens interpersonal relationships, and improves mental health.  

This past week our community celebrated the opening of The Preserve of Highland Park. Festivities kicked off on Thursday June 2 at an event recognizing key partners in the project including the construction teams, Resident Advisory Committee, the City of Highland Park, Lake County, and the State of Illinois. Park Board President Terry Grossberg hosted the ceremony. Among those in attendance were Illinois Senator of the 29th District, Julie Morrison; Illinois Representative of the 58th District, Bob Morgan; and City of Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering along with members of the Park District of Highland Park Board of Commissioners, Parks Foundation of Highland Park Board members, and City Council members.

The public grand opening event took place on Saturday, June 4. Over 200 residents enjoyed a day exploring the natural world around the ponds and at the turtle meadow, new nature maze, pollinator garden, and sand play area.

The Preserve of Highland Park is a unique 100+ acre property comprised of green lawns, nature-based play areas, specialized native gardens, restored woodlands, and walking and biking trails that connect neighborhoods, downtown Highland Park, and regional biking trails.  Visitors can immerse themselves in the sights, sounds, and experiences of nature and outdoor play. The property provides enhanced habitat for several native species including turtles, pollinators, and over 110 species of birds.

Interpretive, interactive signage and ongoing public programming opportunities will allow visitors to learn about important conservation efforts. The Preserve will host summer camp visits, nature educational programs, fitness classes, and special events. The Recreation Center of Highland Park, The Highland Park Senior Center, and the Highland Park Golf Learning Center/Rivers Edge Adventure Golf are steps from the outdoor spaces and trails of The Preserve.

The Preserve is also designed to take advantage of manufactured and natural features to help with local flood relief – including added capacity for flood storage, conversion of 50+ acres of turfgrass into native plantings that absorb and cleanse stormwater, and restoration of more than 2,500 linear feet of pond shoreline providing large-scale water quality benefits in the highly developed Skokie River watershed.

Learn More about The Preserve of Highland Park Project

We always think of summer through rose-colored glasses – the nice weather, holiday celebrations, beach vacations, lounging around with a tall cold drink, and a great book.  But, summer can also mean a lot of stress if you try to pack in everything you can into this short 3-month season. Take some time to de-stress your summer!

According to the Mayo Clinic, the best way to relieve stress is to get active. Virtually any form of physical activity can act as a stress reliever. Even if you’re not an athlete or you’re out of shape, exercise is still a great stress reliever. 

There is no time like the present to get moving!

Here’s a bucket list of 10 “must-do” family outdoor activities at the Park District of Highland Park:

  1. Walk 100 miles. Challenge each other to walk 100 miles over the summer.   The first one to meet the goal gets a coveted prize.
  2. Bike the Parks. Do a bike tour of our parks.  Bike all the parks in one day or split up the town and tour over several days.
  3. Play a Round of Mini-Golf.  Head over to the Highland Park Golf Learning Center and challenge each other to a game.
  4. Take an Outdoor Fitness Class. The Recreation Center of Highland Park is offering outdoor family fitness opportunities.
  5. Play Tennis or Pickleball.  We have tennis courts at nine different park sites throughout the city.  Dedicated pickleball courts are also located at Danny Cunniff and Woodridge Parks. 
  6. Go for a Swim.  We offer opportunities to swim at both Rosewood Beach and the Hidden Creek AquaPark.
  7. Stand-up Paddle or Learn to Sail.  The North Shore Yacht Club provides opportunities to learn how to sail, paddle, or kayak on Lake Michigan.
  8. Take Your furry friend to the Park. Play “off-leash” with your dog at the Debbie Beitler Dog Park.
  9. Play a Game of Basketball.  Outdoor basketball courts are located at numerous park sites throughout the Park District. 
  10. Explore Nature.  The Heller Nature Center is a 97-acre preserve with more than three miles of trails to explore. 

Updates from the May Park Board Meetings

May 18: Workshop Meeting of the Park Board

The Park Board of Commissioners adopted the Beach and Boating Safety Week Proclamation declaring May 23 – 30 as Highland Park Beach and Boating Safety Week and encouraged that these safe practices continue throughout the summer.

The Park Board of Commissioners reconsidered the approval to enter into an agreement with Securatex and rejected all the proposals received on April 13, 2022, for the 2022 Lakefront Security Services. As a result, an emergency approval to enter into an agreement with Gamma Team Security, Inc for Lakefront Security Services was approved by the Park Board of Commissioners.  

The Park Board of Commissioners approved Base Bid Items 1, 2, and 3 and Alternates 1 and 2 from Team REIL Inc. for the 2022 Moraine Park Path Improvement Project, and authorized the Executive Director to enter into an agreement in the amount of $586,314. Also approved was revisions to Section 8.9 “Participation in Programs and Use of Facilities” in the Part-Time Employee Personnel Policy Manual, Section 8.13 “Participation in Programs and Use of Facilities” in the Full-Time Employee Personnel Policy Manual, and Ordinance 2022-04 Authorizing and Providing for the Conveyance or Sale of Surplus Personal Property.

Other updates included a brief overview of the events in June to celebrate the grand opening of The Preserve of Highland Park, an engineering proposal from Gewalt Hamilton Associate to replace the concrete deck and shade structures at Hidden Creek AquaPark, a review of the Centennial Ice Arena renovation project and timeline, and progress reports for the bridge replacement and removal along with cart path resurfacing projects at Sunset Valley Golf Club.  

May 25: Annual Meeting of the Park Board

Commissioner Grossberg was elected for President of the Park Board and Commissioner Freeman was elected for Vice President. Executive Director Romes was appointed as Secretary to the Park Board, Coordinator Hejnowski was appointed as Assistant Secretary acting under the general supervisor of the Secretary, Director Peters was appointed as Treasurer, Director Kopka was appointed as the District’s IMRF authorized agent, Sikich LLP was appointed as the District’s auditor, and Ancel Glink was appointed as the District’s attorney.

May 25: Regular Meeting of the Park Board

The Park Board of Commissioners approved the Executive Director’s Annual Salary and the Hidden Creek AquaPark Concrete Deck Replacement Engineering Services Agreement.

Manager Acevedo provided a programming and staffing update for summer operations at Hidden Creek AquaPark and Rosewood Beach. Manager Pierce provided an update of summer operations for Park Avenue Beach and Boating Facility.

May 26: Finance Committee Meeting

Sikich LLP presented upon the Annual Comprehensive Report and commended staff since there were no deficiencies and zero adjustments were made.

Available May 31-September 1, excluding July 2-4

Daily boat launch passes are available for purchase at the Recreation Center of Highland Park for power boats, sunfish sailboats, SUPs, and kayaks. Personal watercrafts are not eligible for daily launches this season. The daily pass includes parking and in and out privileges for the day. Daily boaters are asked to return their daily pass card in the Park Ave drop box at the end of their visit. 

Personal Watercrafts are not eligible for daily launches.

Recreation Center of Highland Park
1207 Park Ave West 

Hours: 

The Park District of Highland Park works with many partners to maintain and nurture its designated natural areas, all 350 acres of them. Working with other agencies, including the Shedd Aquarium, the Chicago Botanic Garden, Lake-Cook Audubon, and local school districts, builds a shared understanding that guides the management of our natural areas.

 The Park District was among the first to participate in a citizen science project launched in 2017 by the Shedd Aquarium’s research team in collaboration with the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Limnology. The Shedd started the project to increase their understanding of the local impacts of climate change and contribute to the natural history of Great Lakes fish.

 The Park District provided initial observations with three of 17 monitoring sites located in Highland Park. Their staff and volunteers join others throughout the Lake Michigan and Lake Superior borders in Wisconsin and Michigan. “We work with scientists at the Shedd to track migratory fish that are moving out of Lake Michigan into the Ravine streams that are tributary to the lake,” says Rebecca Grill, natural areas manager for the Park District. “Seeing the results from the other sites gives us a sense of what is happening on the larger scale and over time.”

 The Park District is also a longtime partner in the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Plants of Concern program. The project was launched in 2001 to monitor rare, threatened, and endangered plant populations. “The Park District can effectively and proactively protect our ecosystems and better manage our rare plant populations with the information gathered,” says Grill.

 The Park District also helps record the migratory and resident birds that use the lakefront in collaboration with Lake-Cook Audubon, the local chapter of the Illinois Audubon Society.

 One of the Park District’s most rewarding partnerships has been with local school districts for the “Trout in the Classroom” program, a collaboration between the Park District, North Shore School District 112 and 113, Highland Park High School Environmental Science students, the Gary Borger Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Heller Nature Center staff, and our own Natural Areas Program.

 “Trout in the Classroom” culminates in fish release events, at which students release rainbow trout they’ve raised in their classrooms into select ravine streams. One of the program’s hopes is that once they reach maturity, the fish will return to the ravines to spawn, indicating that they are a healthy wildlife habitat.

What makes these partnerships so important, according to Grill, is that by collecting and sharing information regionally, we create a more comprehensive picture of what is happening long term. It is also a chance for Highland Park to highlight our community’s unique natural habitats. “These regional connections are an important tool in decision making to keep our natural areas healthy and protected,” she says.

Imagine that your backyard covers 800 acres. If you live in Highland Park, in a way, it does. That is the size of the land cared for within the boundaries of the Park District of Highland Park.

Caring for this big outdoor space is a team overseen by Dan Voss, Director of Parks.  “It definitely requires a multi-pronged approach,” notes Voss. “There is a difference in managing a large community park such as Danny Cunniff Park with its athletic fields and playgrounds and a woodland preserve such as Heller Nature Center.

Consider the District’s newest park –The Preserve of Highland Park.  Located adjacent to the Recreation Center of Highland Park, the new park includes 100 acres of green lawns, nature-based play areas, specialized native gardens, restored woodlands, and walking and biking trails that connect neighborhoods, downtown Highland Park, and regional biking trails.

The first thing a new visitor to The Preserve may notice is that half of the Park’s acres are planted with native flowers and select grasses that thrive there. These new habitat areas are a welcome addition to the land already managed by the District’s natural areas program led by Rebecca Grill, natural areas manager.

“It’s a park that will attract people who won’t necessarily seek out a forest preserve or even our own Heller Nature Center,” Grill says. “At the same time, it is a park we will manage a little bit differently than our other large community parks such as Cunniff or Fink Parks. 

One surprise may be the necessity of mowing native areas. “That surprises people,” Grills says. “They say, ‘Why did you cut everything down? It looked great.’ We have to think down the road, and sometimes we have to mow down areas to add additional seeds, or because we have invasive annual weeds growing.”

At the same time, there will be more traditional gardening going on than at any of the designated natural areas as found in parks such as Heller.  Specialized gardens that showcase pollinator plants, native shrubs, and native plants in a traditional garden bed will require careful pruning and care of native shrubs and a small grove of apple trees.

“That doesn’t mean we don’t have green spaces within The Preserve,” Grill continues. “That was deliberate in creating areas for picnicking or areas for a pick-up ballgame. Stepping in and out of natural areas into those mowed green areas will give visitors a sense of stewardship.”

For those areas, traditional parks maintenance including weed whipping, lawn mowing, and trash removal will be essential. “To cover both aspects, the District has been able to bring on staff that has specialized skills in ecological restoration and knows how to manage a traditional park,” says Voss.

An essential part of the Park District’s management program is its volunteers. Grill estimates volunteers perform about 2,000 hours of community service annually. “A core group helps us every Friday working in different locations,” she says.  Put these all together, and you get a success story like the Skokie-River Woods project. Since 2009, roughly 15 acres of wetlands on the parcel of land along Highway 41 have been restored or enhanced. This was done in consort with the City of Highland Park, which owns the land, the Lake County Forest Preserve District, the Stormwater Management Commission (SMC), grant money through the Illinois Department of Resources and volunteer groups such as the Boy Scouts, whose troop members pulled invasive plants like buckthorn. In 2016, the Park District won an SMC award for best management practices.

“We’re fortunate that Highland Park residents appreciate, enjoy, and understand their natural areas,” Voss says. “We’re very appreciative we have support from our Park Board and lucky we’re able to have a budget that allows us to not only have staff to maintain the areas but also to bring in contractual services that we would otherwise not have the manpower to perform.”

To inquire about volunteering with the Park District of Highland Park, contact Liz Ricketts at [email protected].