McKinley Woods, one of the Forest Preserve District’s oldest preserves, is about to get bigger.

The Forest Preserve’s Board of Commissioners approved a 57-acre acquisition at its monthly meeting on Aug. 8 that will enlarge the Channahon preserve. The parcel, known as McDonald's farm, cost $1,037,400 and will be paid for with proceeds from a $25 million bond issue approved by the Board in 2019.

The land is located on the east side of McKinley Woods Road, west of the Des Plaines River and south of the ComEd utility corridor. The preserve's Frederick’s Grove access area is located south of the new parcel where McKinley Woods Road dead ends. 

“This acquisition will better allow us to access and maintain existing portions of McKinley Woods that were almost physically impossible to reach in the past,” said Colleen Novander, the Forest Preserve’s director of planning and land preservation. “This property will allow for better management of the entire preserve.”

A series of ravines in this area made access problematic in the past. But the new acquisition will make restoration efforts and other land management activities easier to accomplish, said Andrew Hawkins, the Forest Preserve’s director of conservation. 

An adjacent 10-acre parcel with a home on it is not part of the acquisition, which will be finalized at a real estate closing later this year. 

Neighbors who live across the street from the parcel are happy to hear it will be preserved as open space, said Mike Dauzvardis, who attended the Board meeting.

Traffic on McKinley Woods Road is already busy and if the land had been developed for homes that would have made the situation worse, said Dauzvardis, a retired anatomy professor at Loyola School of Medicine who said he loves nature and biking. 

“We’re so excited,” he said. “I love walking through McKinley Woods. I love the prairie … and this is going to be wonderful. It’s fantastic.”

Named after President William McKinley, the 533-acre McKinley Woods, which is part of the Des Plaines River preservation system, was acquired between 1931 and 2004. The preserve is popular for birding and wildlife viewing activities. And it sits along the I&M Canal and near where the DuPage, Kankakee and Des Plaines rivers merge to form the Illinois River. 

McKinley Woods is home to Four Rivers Environmental Education Center, which is located at the Kerry Sheridan Grove access area. 

Prior to the District's acquisition of the land, it was a private resort and was commonly called "Moose Island." The Frederick's Grove Shelter is a remnant of a Civilian Conservation Corps camp that was built on the site in the 1930s and it also briefly served as a German prisoner of war camp.