Sannauk Forest Preserve

Sannauk Forest Preserve, located between Sandwich and Somonauk in Illinois, was the district’s first forest preserve, acquired in 1939. Once the site of the Somonauk Golf Course, remnants of old greens, sand traps, and tee areas remain visible within the forest. The woodlands along Somonauk Creek are diverse, featuring one of the region’s finest displays of spring flora, including Skunk Cabbage, Turtlehead, and Turk’s Cap Lilies. The preserve also hosts the district’s largest stand of Sycamore trees, with Bald Cypress seedlings planted in the 1970s. Visitors can enjoy three enclosed and two open-air picnic shelters, hiking trails, a playground, a sledding hill, and fishing along Somonauk Creek. A historical marker highlights the original Illinois–Wisconsin boundary running through the preserve, and the 1½-mile limestone Somonauk Trail connects the Village of Somonauk and the Somonauk Library to the preserve. Facilities include handicap access, cross-country skiing, open play fields, restrooms, and water.