Lake McDonald Trail

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Overview

Trail Features

Dogs
Not Allowed
Fees
None
Kids
Allowed
Route
Loop
Users
Multi-use
Length
5.1 kilometers
Parking
Yes
Surface
Mixed
Bathrooms
Yes
Elevation Gain
12.5
Difficulty
Beginner
Trail Hours
Sunrise - Sunset
Parking Hours
Sunrise - Sunset
Water Fountains
Yes
Vending Machines
None

The 5.1-kilometer McDonald Lake Trail is located in McDonald Woods Forest Preserve in Illinois, United States. It is a fairly trafficked loop that allows the hikers to enjoy fishing, mountain biking, bird watching, walking, take nature trips, and skiing. The McDonald Trail has an elevation of 12.5 feet, and hikers can access the trail throughout the year during all seasons. Hikers are not allowed to hike the McDonalds Lake Trail with their dogs or horses, but the McDonald Lake Trail is family-friendly. The hikers enjoy the view of rivers, wildlife, beautiful flowers, lakes, and enjoy the scenic environment of the forest. During summer, hikers enjoy the skiing and snowshoeing.

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Description

The entrance to McDonald Lake Trail is found on the west side of Route 45 and east side of Route 83 of Lake Villa village on Grass Lake Road. McDonald Lake Trail provides ample parking area for the hikers at the trailhead and also offers clean drinking water and vault toilets.

The McDonald trail is well maintained and has solid soil, which is awesome for running and has a nice pavement path for hikers interested in mountain biking. McDonalds Trail has lots of wildlife like turtles, beautiful birds of prey like Pine siskins, and Cooper's hawk and small snakes for snake lovers. The forest in McDonald Lake Trail is home to Coopers hawks and all their favorite prey, including medium-sized birds, chipmunks, squirrels, and mice.

The trail has a few houses close by but also have amazingly beautiful and peaceful wood chip paths that lead you back to the trails after a short walk. These wood chip paths are not in the map, but hikers who are keen enough notice them savor the serenity and peace in these safe little havens and are likely to see and hear winter sparrows and migrant warblers.

From McDonald Lake Trail, the hikers get to enjoy a beautiful view of McDonald Lake 1 and McDonald Lake 2.

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History

The McDonald Trail is close to Lake Villa village in Illinois that covers 18.11 square kilometers, and beneath it is glacial deposit since the area has glacial lakes like Deep Lake and Cedar Lake on the east and north of the town respectively. The lakes have improved the ice industry immensely over the years.

The Lake Villa village developed from some segments of Antioch, Grant, and Avon. The Cooper hawks became so popular in Lake Villa that a company was opened and named after them. The creators of this company, Dana and Tim, have managed to open 40 branches of the company around Virginia, Arizona, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois- the home of McDonalds Lake trail - and other areas. The restaurant deals with a winery and a retail store. The first restaurant was opened in 2005 in Orland Park, Illinois.

Both McDonald Lake 1 and 2 carry a watershed of about 567 acres. The water from these lakes flows from surrounding sources like Spring Ledge Lakes, Waterford, and Potomac. Ever since 2003, the limits of these lakes, oxygen, water clarity, nutrients, and temperature, are checked between May and September as a measure to maintain McDonalds Forest Woods Preserve.

Sources

All Trails. (2020). McDonalds Wood Trail Loop. Retrieved, February 13, 2020, From https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/illinois/mcdonald-woods-trail-loop?u=m

Enjoy Illinois. (2020). McDonald Woods Forest Preserve. Retrieved, February 13, 2020, From, https://www.enjoyillinois.com/index.php/explore/listing/mcdonald-woods-forest-preserve

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