Pilcher Park gets attention

JOLIET – Pilcher Park is sometimes called “a hidden gem,” which is both a compliment and a quandary.

The park and adjoining woodlands comprise about 640 acres that will grow with the addition of 80 acres donated by the Illinois Audubon Society.

“This is an old woodland that has really held its own in an age of invasive plants,” said Tom Clay, executive director of the Illinois Audubon Society. Clay described the bird watching opportunities at Pilcher Park as “wonderful. The woodpeckers in there were just thick.”

The high quality of natural land is the major reason the state society chose Pilcher Park as the place to make its biggest ever acquisition of public lands. The land cost about $1.9 million, with the Illinois Audubon Society spending about $540,000, and the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation contributing a grant of nearly $1.4 million.

Back home, the beauty of Pilcher Park is not always recognized, said Rita Renwick, a Joliet resident who is on the Illinois Audubon Society board.

“It’s a part of the community that’s been overlooked and undervalued for some time,” Renwick said.

Hence the term “hidden gem.” Not enough local people appreciate Pilcher Park, Renwick said.

“It’s got mature woods. It has endangered species in it. And, it has beautiful spring flowers,” Renwick said.

$2 million in park spending

The park is getting some attention this year.

The Joliet Park District, which owns the park, will spend about $2 million out of the $19 million tax referendum approved in November on road and trail repairs, as well as gates that, for the first time, will block public access after dark.

The park is located northwest of U.S. Route 30 and Gougar Road. The entrance is off U.S. Route 30 at Highland Park Drive.

The gates are needed, said Katie Zaban, natural areas coordinator for the woodlands area.

The park closes at dusk, but without gates, it’s hard to keep people out. The park also will be equipped with security cameras.

Zaban said the park is damaged by vandals at night. And it is used as a dumping ground.

“In the summertime, we get lots of lawn clippings. We get TVs that are thrown out here,” she said.

The road and trail repairs should make a ride or walk at the park smoother and safer.

‘Deeper into the forest’

“We want people to get out of their cars,” Zaban said. “We’re trying to have set parking lots where people can park, and it will be near a trail head so they can get out and hike.”

Zaban also manages the Pilcher Park Nature Center, a small natural history museum that exhibits corn snakes, bull frogs, a red-tailed hawk and other creatures that give people an up-close look at some of the area’s native animals.

She said not enough people venture far enough into the woods to know that the Nature Center exists. Zaban said she hears from many people who have visited the popular Bird Haven Greenhouse, located on the edge of Pilcher Park along Gougar Road, but have not gone “deeper into the forest.”

“We always have people who say, ‘Where are you at?’” Zaban said. “There are still people who live in the immediate area who don’t know we are here.”

Pilcher Park history

Pilcher Park was established in the 1920s when Robert and Nora Pilcher donated 320 acres of what was then called the Forest of Arden to the city of Joliet, according to a history provided by the Joliet Park District.

Pilcher, a Joliet businessman, bought the land from the estate of Henry D. Higginbotham, who settled on the land. Higginbotham’s heirs later donated another 239 acres, which is called Higginbotham Woods.

Another section of the connecting parks is called Highland Park, a popular site for its Frisbee golf.

The 80-acre tract acquired through the Illinois Audubon Society is encompassed by the park area, but was privately owned. The land is mostly wooded. Acquiring it protects the woods from potential future development, Zaban said.