We were able to walk through this unique ecosystem thanks to the Volo Bog Interpretive Trail, a floating boardwalk that wound through the park.
For a few minutes at least, bog birch, sphagnum moss, highbush blueberry and water lilies replaced traffic, electrical lines, agricultural fields and subdivisions.
It was like a little outpost of Canada’s boreal forests in the Chicago suburbs.
The trails were even long enough that my children started complaining about all the nature they had to walk through.
Clocking in at 43.1 acres, Ferson Creek Fen Nature Preserve was a sliver of bird-filled wilderness tucked along the Fox River.
Locations:
Chicago, Volo