Christmas this year was pretty special because it was marked by me moving back to Chicago from Arizona. After 2 years I finally completed my masters in environmental engineering and graduated at the beginning of December. Last week I moved back home to find a job and be with my family and although I will miss all of the hiking adventures and great friends I've made in Arizona, I can't wait to start exploring the midwest the same way. Christmas was also special because of some sweet outdoors gifts: a new pair of hiking boots (switching it up from Merrells to Vasques this time) from my folks, a Wisconsin State Parks pass from my girlfriend, some hiking clothing from my sister, and "60 Hikes Within 60 Miles of Chicago" a book by Ted Villaire from my girlfriend's sister. I couldn't wait to get outdoors as it's been 3 weeks since my last hike so we picked out one the hikes from the book, laced up the new boots, and headed down to hike the Cap Sauers and Swallow Cliff Loop in Palos Park.
Located in southwest Cook County, the Palos/Sag Valley Forest Preserve is home to the Cap Sauers and Swallow Cliff Loop. The trail is a 3.8 mile loop through a giant grove of Oak trees, known as an "Oak Savanna". Oak Savannas feature grasses and prairie plants growing among forests dominated by Oak trees. The trail is named for Charles "Cap" Sauers, the first Superintendent of the Cook County Forest Preserve District, as well as for the Swallow Cliff, a 100 foot tall bluff carved by glaciers (like much of the terrain in the Chicago area).
The trail begins at Teason's Woods, a nice picnic area located near Route 83 and 104th Avenue. The parking lot connects to the Yellow Trail, which moves through a valley of trees at the base of a large hill. Within the first quarter mile of the hike we saw a family of whitetail deer and we had a few additional sightings of deer along the trail.
The trail then reaches the Swallow Cliffs Stairs, which were
constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1930. The 125 stairs
climb almost 100 feet and at this point in the trail we saw a bunch of
people climbing up and down the stairs for exercise. The stairs once led
to the top of a toboggan run which was removed in 2004.
After
reaching the top of the stairs the trail continues through the forest
on the cream trail before joining the brown trail and then linking back
up to the yellow trail. The trails are extremely well marked with posts
and each trail either paved with crushed stone or well maintained dirt.
The recent rain made the trail a bit slushy in some parts. After passing
Horsetail Lake and crossing 104th Avenue we entered the Cap Sauers
Holdings Nature Preserve for the second half of the trail. Hiking among
the leafless Oak trees on a cloudy, gloomy day made for an almost eery
feeling that was pretty cool. After passing Swallow Cliffs we hardly saw any other people. After 2 years of sunshine and cactus it
was something different to be out on a gloomy day among tall hardwood
trees.
The Hike: Cap Sauers and Swallow Cliff Loop, 3.8 miles, 120 ft. elevation gain
Check out 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles of Chicago
here
As always Leave No Trace!
