Marengo Ridge Conservation Area is one of McHenry County’s most popular and treasured areas. It contains over 818 acres of oak and hickory woodlands interspersed with spruce, aspen, ash and sumac groves.
We did not camp here because the campground was closed due to covid. However, Marengo Ridge offers a large campground for up to 100 people. Marengo Ridge is also open for winter camping from December–March.
Restoration work at Marengo Ridge involves removing invasive species, reseeding, and conducting periodic prescribed burns. Over 300 native plants and wildflowers thrive here including wild geranium, columbine, and Jack-in-the-pulpit. May apple and bloodroot blanket the woodland floor each spring. Asters, shooting stars, and black-eyed Susans grow along the hiking trails throughout the summer. A variety of prairie grasses and goldenrod wave in the breeze and 14 different species of butterflies flutter amongst them.
Explore 5 miles of trails of oak woodlands and savanna. The 1.3 mile Kelly Hertel Nature Trail meanders through woodlands and crosses several small bridges over streams that lace the moraine and drain into the nearby Kishwaukee River. The trail becomes steeper, the woods thicken and the path becomes more twisted. Another route is the 1.1 mile Long Hiking Loop which connects with the Kelly Hertel Nature Trail for a combined 2.6 mile hike. The 1.25 mile South Hiking Loop trail travels through restored woodlands and prairie.
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Left by the retreating Wisconsin glacier, the Marengo Ridge moraine is 40 miles long, 3 miles wide, and creates one of the steepest, vertical moraines in Illinois at 1,050 feet above sea level. Rocks and boulders seen on the trail have been transplanted from as far away as Lake Superior and Canada.
A myriad of mammals, birds, butterflies and insects inhabit the high quality oak woodlands at Marengo Ridge including great-horned owls, wild turkeys, Eastern Kingbirds, Broad-winged hawks and numerous songbirds.
Thomas Woods Campground, located on the east side of the site, has 29 individual tent sites and 18 RV sites that can be reserved. Weekends only during 2020.I forgot to turn off the Hike app on my watch so there is a bit of our drive included on the map.
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