Behold the gentle, rolling grassy terrain of this scenic preserve. The dips and rises here were formed by the advance and retreat of immense ice chunks during the last ice age.

When the weather warmed, grasslands dominated. In autumn, big bluestem and switch grass turn amber brown and yellow, swaying to the music of the wind. McDonald Woods is a perfect place to hike, bike and cross-country ski. Trails here also connect to our regional Millennium Trail and provide access to the Grass Lake Road Bike Path and several other neighboring communities and parks. Gravel: 3.7 miles of trails wind around woods, wetlands and grasslands and are open for hiking, biking and cross-country skiing. Woodchip: this 0.9-mile trail is open only for hiking and cross-country skiing and leads to a basswood and sugar maple forest, glowing yellow in autumn.

Walk-in access to the preserve via the woodchip trail is available on Beck Road, however, roadside parking is not permitted there.

A pedestrian tunnel beneath Grass Lake Road offers safe crossing for trail users and connects trails at McDonald Woods to local parks, schools, residential areas and busineses. The underpass is part of a network of trails built and funded in large part by federal and state grants and in partnership with Lindenhurst Park District, Village of Lindenhurst and Lake Villa Township.

Please keep dogs leashed and on trails at all times, and pick up after them. Learn about our off-leash Dog Parks (permit required).

Part of the larger preserve, Bonner Heritage Farm has a separate entrance on Sand Lake Road just west of Route 45. Turn north from Sand Lake Road onto Country Place.

The parking lot is located on the right, just past the bend.

Exhibits tell of the farm's historically significant structures.

A portion of the main barn is among the oldest surviving intact great barns in Lake County.