Mellody Farm Nature Preserve, Lake Forest

About Mellody Farm Nature Preserve

Mellody Farm Nature Preserve is a 58-acre conservation area in Lake Forest where visitors hike restored native habitats and wetlands along 1.7 miles of trails. The preserve serves as the programming hub for Lake Forest Open Lands, hosting youth and adult public programs and volunteer opportunities. Wildlife viewing opportunities include Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons, Wood Ducks and chorus frogs throughout the wetlands, prairies and oak savanna. Patrick's Puddle, a restored wetland in the eastern section, provides a teaching area for younger children near the Eldridge Family Classroom. The Lockhart Family Nature Center, housed in a renovated historic gatehouse, serves as the main administrative building. Visitors can explore the site's landscape of formerly farmed land that has been carefully restored since 1994, including over 2000 feet of Middlefork River riverbank restoration completed in 1997. On-site parking is available near the Deerpath and Waukegan Road entrance.