Espensheid is on the smallish side, but the terrain is fairly rugged so the hiking is a little more work than you might expect from a smallish park. It is virtually all hardwood forest. Some is low land along the river so is kind of damp, more of it is higher ground and is a more traditional and dryer forest. Lots of access to the Kishwaukee River and a creek for the beagle to play in. There are some bike trails in the park that were created by a local bike group but I don't have a map for them. I will see if I can get one from the FPD. The bike trails wind around in circles inside the park so are a lot longer than you might expect from a smallish area. The FPD web site claims the facility is 114.7 acres rather than the 60 acres the trail map claims. It seems bigger than 60 acres to me.
Blackhawk Springs is adjacent to it to the south and west and is flatter but does have some grade to it in places. This park has hardwood forests and some prairie area as well. Good access to the river and also has a natural spring. There is a creek as well, but most of it seems to be dry or more mud then creek when we have been here.
You can see the nature of the bike trails inside Espensheid here. It is easy to get turned around, especially if you do not know where they start and end. I found them by accident and got off by bushwhacking from the bike trail to the hiking trail.
Fairly typical of the trails inside Espensheid. The bike trails we took on the way back were about the same but a lot narrower.
Caterpiller we ran across on the trail just inside Black Hawk Springs. Wilma showed no interest.
An old sleeping bag just off the trail at Blackhawk Springs.
Blackhawk Springs - cool looking fungus.
Saw this on our way back inside Espensheid. Beavers at work.
Posted at Espensheid. It appears to be the same obsolete map that was there when we visited before. Note that the north arrow points toward Perryville Road on this map, which is actually to the west.
ETA: 4-17-12 I emailed the maint super for Espenscheid and asked what the reference to Cherry Valley FP on the bottom of this map meant, and whether Espenscheid is 60 acres as the maps say or 114.7 as the web site claims. This is what he replied:
When Deer Run was finally established, it absorbed some of the 114 acres that made up Espenscheid, thus the 60 acre reference to Espenscheid now, and Cherry Valley Forest Preserve is what Deer Run was called in the beginning.
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