Visiting Bison’s Bluff
I’ve been wanting to visit Bison’s Bluff Nature Playground since it was created. Recently, we had the perfect opportunity. With the in-laws visiting, and the ideal balance of a sunny day, combined with a light breeze, we were off on our adventure to the Schaumburg area. I’m co-writing this with my ten year old niece, Charlotte. Scroll down to see her take on this adventure–and her favorite parts!
Bison’s Bluff During Covid-19
Before we show you how amazing this place is, you should know they are operating under restrictions right now. The Spring Valley Nature Center was closed when we were there. The trails are open for walking, but they do have reminders to keep social distancing in mind. If you’re a Schaumburg Park District resident, you can reserve time in the Bison’s Bluff Nature Playground, for a one hour time slot. They are doing this to keep numbers under control, as well as having a 30 minute cleaning period between each one hour play session.
If you’re not a park district resident, you can show up at the beginning of the play session time to see if there is space. We showed up at 10:00 on a Sunday, were the first people there, and only a few more families joined during that first hour.
A couple more things: There are portable bathrooms right outside the entrance–they were well stocked with hand sanitizer when we were there. Also just outside the entrance, there were a number of picnic tables to enjoy your own lunch or snack during your visit.
Let’s Start with the Trails
The Spring Valley Nature Sanctuary features 135 acres of conservation area, laced with handicapped accessible trails to sightsee, bird watch and enjoy nature up close.
We walked through one trail that lead us to one of the wetland habitat areas, where we saw a pond covered with lily pad’s, frogs, birds and tons of flowers along the way. It was like something out of a fairytale.
Another trail took us up and around, passed the children’s garden, as well as wildflowers that were being visited by dragonflies, butterflies, bees and chipmunks. The kids loved seeing the wildlife. Me? I was there for the flowers. And, let me tell you–this place delivers!
The Nature Playground
The nature playground is nothing short of fabulous–a great spot to spend our Sunday morning. The kids are encouraged to climb, jump, explore and let their imaginations run wild.
The playground normally has water features for the kids to splash and play. But, with the current restrictions for health and safety, the water has been removed, for the time being.
Tunnel slides, bridges and rocks galore!
While there are a number of “areas” to play in, I never felt like any of the kids were lost. Standing in the middle, you can see almost the entire play area.
One of my favorite memories was this flower art creation. The kids are encouraged to bring flowers and greenery from around the playground–adding it into the fence to create a lovely 3D mural. We loved this so much that we made our own as soon as we got home!
That’s my take on Bison’s Bluff and the surrounding nature sanctuary. It was a great way to spend the day, and I’m hoping we can get back there again soon!
Let’s see what Charlotte has to say about it…
My mom told me we were leaving right after breakfast. I did not know where we were going but it was going to be an adventure. We loaded up on water bottles and snacks, and we were off!
Once we got there, I was amazed. It was so pretty. I saw LOTS and LOTS of flowers. The flowers were so pretty. There were like hundreds of little flowers all different colors so beautiful.
There was also a playground that we played in for a hour. I wish we could stay but you had to register for it. I had a really fun time there. At the playground there was a really cool rock formation thing and a hut ⛺️. It was cool to play on.
Have You Been Here?
Have you visited the Bison’s Bluff playground or the nature sanctuary? What was your favorite part? Let us know!
