Hastings Lake Forest Preserve 21155 West Gelden Road, Lake Villa, IL 60046

"The best kids park around! Soft, squishy ground and tons of equipment for the little kids to play on! And it's in the middle of the forest preserve; away from traffic."

"We were driving around looking for a park for our kids to have fun and I had looked up this forest preserve to see and the park which I would say is for age groups anywhere between 5 to 11 unless you were planning to go for a walk. Great for bike rides great for a walk with the stroller and the baby luckily we had a carrier so we put our baby on there. On the map it shows you two different loops you can do the yellow which is about a mile or you can do the blue loop which is more than 2 miles. Definitely looking forward to going back again they had a nice picnic tables the place looked really well maintained and it didn’t seem like a lot of people knew about it so it’s almost like a nice hidden gem. We are looking to go back perhaps get the fishing rods we also saw that there’s a nice spot where you can go fishing and there’s a couple places on the map that has an outlook to definitely oversee the area. The level of intensity for the walk is very easy not a lot of high altitude‘s most of the trail is gravel but it did also have parts of the trail where it was shaded with the trees. As always make sure to remember to bring water put some sunscreen and have the right shoes and interior to walk on."

"Perfect place for a family outing. Shade and bathrooms available. The 2-mile lake loop had a good surface for scooters. There were plenty of spots along the route to sit down, enjoy the view and listen the the birds. The playground was fantastic too. This place is a gem!"

"Hidden gem! Or maybe it was just hidden to me because this was the first time I was there. What a spectacular forest preserve! Paths were clean and wide, some were gravel, some boardwalk, some paved, lots of parking, huge playground for children. Boat launch, nice fishing piers with enough room to sit and enjoy the water, superbly maintained, exceptionally clean. The dogs and I had a fantastic 2 mile walk around the lake. Trail is marked to make sure you don't accidentally exit on a side trail. We have saved this in our 'faves' and can't wait to go back!"