DuPage Forest Preserve District Opens New 34-Acre Dog Area

Photo credit: DuPage County Forest Preserve District website

Are you looking for a new place to take your pup?

Well, then, you might want to check out the 34-acre, off-leash dog area that opened Tuesday at Hawk Hollow Forest Preserve in Bartlett. The area includes four separate and fully-enclosed fields, including one especially for dogs under 25 pounds; an enclosed 1.2-mile limestone trail and a 60-vehicle parking lot off Bittersweet Drive just south of Stearns Road, according to a DuPage County Forest Preserve District press release.

The dog area will replace the off-leash dog area just over five miles away at Pratt’s Wayne Woods Forest Preserve in Wayne. That dog area will remain open until Dec. 31.

To use the off-leash area, dog owners must have valid cistrict permits, which are available week days through Visitor Services at (630) 933-7248 or at 3S580 Naperville Road in Wheaton.

A key feature of the new facility is its rotating activity fields, which will allow the District to close off one area to give the turf a rest while keeping a second area open for use.

“The Hawk Hollow area is a hybrid design of a lot of the best elements of all of the district’s off-leash dog facilities,” said Kevin Horsfall, district manager of planning.

The area is the result of a 2012 cooperative agreement between the District and CN, which allowed the railway and transportation company to use 5 acres at Pratt’s Wayne Woods for track improvements in exchange for roughly $3.1 million in forest preserve improvements, including habitat enhancements, a new model airfield at Pratt’s Wayne Woods and the new off-leash area at Hawk Hollow.

“This is a win-win situation not only for the District, but more importantly for the environment, wildlife, businesses and homeowners in this corridor,” said Forest Preserve District Commissioner Al Murphy, District 6.

In addition to Hawk Hollow, the District has off-leash dog areas at Blackwell in Warrenville, East Branch in Glendale Heights, Springbrook Prairie and Greene Valley in Naperville, and Mayslake in Oak Brook. Work is also underway to open another off-leash dog area at Oldfield Oaks in Darien.

Source: DuPage County Forest Preserve District press release