O'Hara Woods

_{|  Story by Meghan McMahon |}

_4/22/2024

To call something an urban oasis or a suburban oasis might seem like an overused phrase, but it certainly does seem to be an apt description for O’Hara Woods Preserve in Romeoville.

The preserve is situated right in the heart of busy and bustling northern Will County. Its location, surrounded by neighborhoods and just a short distance from Weber Road and Interstate 55, makes it all the more special, said Sara Russell, an interpretive naturalist for the Forest Preserve District.

“Because it’s in this weird little spot in the suburbs in the middle of the town center, it’s an escape, it’s a total escape,” explained Russell.

The Forest Preserve acquired the 54-acre preserve between 2006 and 2008. It sits adjacent to the Village of Romeoville’s 60-acre O’Hara Woods Nature Preserve, creating a 100-acre oasis protecting forest and wetland habitats.

The preserve trail leads from Romeoville’s village hall and police station into and through a grassy area next to a neighborhood and then turns a corner into the forest. “Once you get in there, you feel like you’ve been transported,” Russell said, adding that as you continue on the trail you will start to feel far removed from where you just came.  

Each season brings new wonders at O’Hara Woods. “There’s always something, no matter what season,” Russell said.

In the winter, the preserve is a peaceful respite, and it’s especially beautiful when it snows. The woods start to wake up in the spring, with color slowly creeping in on the forest floor and then a little later in the tree canopy above. In the summer, the forest is lush and green, offering a shady spot to explore while escaping the sun’s intensity. And then in the fall, the green begins to be replaced with a rich tapestry of autumn color.

There is no bad time of year to visit O’Hara Woods Preserve, but there is one must-visit time — bluebell season.

Virginia bluebells color the forest floor each spring at many wooded forest preserves, but the display is nothing short of spectacular at O’Hara Woods. Even the hardest-to-impress people you know will be awed by the display.

“It’s magical,” Russell said of the bluebell show there each spring. “There’s something about the sunlight streaming through the trees, it’s just incredible.”

It can be difficult to predict when the bluebells will be at their peak each year, but it’s generally sometime between mid- to late April and early May.

While the bluebells steal the show during the spring ephemeral wildflower season at O’Hara Woods, there are plenty of other blooms too. Before the bluebells bloom, you can find skunk cabbage — the earliest flowering plant in Illinois — in pockets near the creek. You’ll see plenty of cut-leaved toothwort mixed in with the bluebells, and lots of mayapples too.

Keep your eyes peeled for spring beauties, purple cress, trout lily and trillium, among others. Russell has spotted Dutchman’s breeches there as well. “They are one of my favorites, and it was really cool to see them because you don’t find them everywhere.”

O’Hara Woods is also a preserve known for its wildlife viewing opportunities. You would be hard pressed to hike through the forest and not see or hear wildlife all around you.

“Almost any time I walk in there, I am experiencing wildlife in a way that I don’t always experience at other places or preserves,” Russell said. “I will see deer, or I will see a hawk flying overhead. I’ll see wildlife in a higher quantity than I will see other places.”

It’s a good place to see and hear woodpeckers, and owls too, especially great horned owls, she said. If you want to hear great horned owls calling out to one another, Russell recommends visiting in the fall, at dusk if you can. “Almost every time I go in October, I’m hearing them,” she said.

On the forest floor, look for squirrels scurrying about. You may see raccoons peeking out from the trees, and ducks and other waterfowl can often be seen in the small creek that cuts through the forest. In early spring, chorus frogs can be heard as well.

One reason for such great diversity of wildlife is that O’Hara Woods includes many different types of habitat, Russell said.

“You get all these little ecosystems in this one spot,” she explained. “You get the creek bed, you get the slough, you get the prairie, you get the forest. All these cool little things come together in one spot.”

The Forest Preserve’s O’Hara Woods does not have as many recreational opportunities as some other preserves. The preserve has one 0.67 trail that cuts through the forest and into the prairie, and it connects to trails owned and maintained by the village of Romeoville. The village’s O’Hara Woods Nature Preserve also features a playground, a pavilion and picnic tables.