Centennial Park is a skateboarder’s dream with 10,000 square feet of
smooth surface packed with lots of curves, dips and banks that will
make your day - Photo by Job Conger
You’ve been doing a lot of walking, mostly from one historic site to the next. It’s not really the legwork that wears you out — you’ve simply taken in all the details a mind can absorb.
Tourism can be exhausting. If you need a change of pace, why not check out one of Springfield’s more natural settings? The city offers great parks, nature spots, gardens and prairie wilderness. All Springfield parks are open dawn to dusk. Take time to relax, have a picnic and freshen up for the next historic site on your agenda.
Adams Wildlife Sanctuary This is the perfect place for a quick nature walk without driving out of town. Just off one of Springfield’s busiest streets, Clear Lake Avenue, the sanctuary is a hidden jewel that’s accessible in minutes. Once a mid- 19th-century farm, it’s now a wooded
haven for birds and birdwatchers and owned by the Illinois Audubon Society.
One trail takes 15 minutes to complete; a longer trail takes 45 minutes. All told, the sanctuary features about one mile of trails. The visitor center offers information about the trees, plants and birds commonly encountered.
Visitors can also tour the newlyrestored 1850s Margery Adams farmhouse. Its award-winning, ecofriendly design features the use of geothermal heat. Adams Wildlife Sanctuary, 2315 E. Clear Lake Ave., 217-544-5781.
www.illinoisaudubon.org. Go east of downtown on Madison Avenue, which turns into Clear Lake.
Carpenter Park Nature Preserve This 424-acre park and 341-acre nature preserve hugs the Sangamon River just north of town along Peoria
Road/Business I-55, south of the Rail Golf Course. The park includes 10 trails, a large shelter with a fireplace, and several picnic tables. It’s a short jaunt from the Illinois State Fairgrounds and Oak Ridge Cemetery and adjacent to Gurgens and Riverside parks.
Heading west from Ohio, William Carpenter came upon what is now the park with his family in the fall of 1820. Native Americans from the Kickapoo and Tamaroa tribes were residents at the time. The Native Americans left the area, but the land remained fairly undeveloped through the years — you won’t find the park’s natural undulations and rock formations anywhere else. The trails are a perfect place for a hike past ponds, marshes, woodlands and prairie. Look for hundreds of bird, plant and animal species, some unique to the area. Across the river,
near the softball diamonds at Riverside Park, pet owners can let their pooches explore and exercise at one of the area’s only dog runs. Carpenter Park Nature Preserve, IL 124 and Loop I-55, 217-544-1751. www.springfieldparks.org. Drive north from Springfield on Peoria Road/Business I-55.
Centennial Park Calling all skateboarders! Springfield’s hippest park is a must-see for you! In addition to its wide-open spaces and opportunity for a great picnic away from Springfield, Centennial Park is home to a skateboarders’ run, dedicated in 2003. The smooth surface covers 10,000-square feet and is packed with the curves, dips and banks that will make your day. Centennial Park, Bunker Hill Road and Lenhart Road, 217-544-1751. www.springfieldparks.org.
