Forest Preserves of Cook County Invites Everyone to Party for the Preserves

Salsa dance, enjoy a brass band, hike through the night, paddle a giant canoe and more free events in honor of National Public Lands Day

The Forest Preserves of Cook County invites residents to celebrate the outdoors your way during the annual Party for the Preserves on Saturday, September 27 and Sunday, September 28 with salsa dancing, a New Orleans brass band, day and night hikes, paddling giant canoes and more.

"Party for the Preserves is how we mark National Public Lands Day, when the nation recognizes parks and public lands,” said Forest Preserves of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. “And we’re grateful to the people who visit our public lands and care for them. This year we’re celebrating with dance, music, hiking and canoeing to reflect the many ways people enjoy the Forest Preserves."

Among other events, the weekend features salsa dancing to live music by Latin Swing Factor at Thatcher Woods, fishing, hiking, and Windy City Ramblers Brass Band at Camp Bullfrog Lake, plus paddling in 10-person canoes at Powderhorn Lake. Nine big events—all free and open to all—will be held as part of this year’s Party for the Preserves:

• Trash Bash

• Bunker Hill in Niles on Saturday, Sept 27 at 9 am

• Party for the Preserves

• Sand Ridge Nature Center in South Holland on Saturday, Sept 27
  at 10 am

• Container Gardening

• Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center in Willow Springs on Saturday, Sept 27 at 10:30 am

• Party for the Preserves

• Crabtree Nature Center in Barrington on Saturday, Sept 27 at 10:30 am

• Party for the Preserves

• River Trail Nature Center in Northbrook on Saturday, Sept 27 at 10:30 am

• Salsa Dance: Party for the Preserves

• Thatcher Woods in River Forest on Saturday, Sept 27 at 11 am

• Every Child Matters Powwow

• Caldwell Woods in Chicago on Saturday, Sept 27 at 11 am

• Party for the Preserves

• Camp Bullfrog Lake in Willow Springs on Saturday, Sept 27 at 12 pm

• Party for the Preserves: Canoeing

• Powderhorn Lake in Burnham on Sunday, Sept 28 at 10 am

Additional details on all nine events are online at fpdcc.com/party or at each Forest Preserve’s web page. Fall events through the end of November are available in the Fall 2025 Guide.

What is the Party for the Preserves?

Since 1994, National Public Lands Day has mobilized volunteers on the fourth Saturday in September to celebrate and care for something we all share—our nation’s public lands. Nationwide, more than 70,000 participants are expected to join in trail maintenance, clean ups, tree planting, invasive species removal, as well as hikes and other fun activities.

Saturday and Sunday’s Party for the Preserves events are focused on fun, but it’s important to note that much of Cook County’s 70,000 acres of forest preserves rely on volunteers to help make them healthier and better places to visit.

Aside from the Forest Preserves’ volunteers, the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission plays another big role in protecting this land. The commission oversees more than 600 natural sites considered to be the state’s most rare, natural areas, which are almost all that is left of the way the state looked in the early 1800s. Of those sites, 33 are in the Forest Preserves of Cook County, comprising nearly 11,000 acres of unspoiled natural heritage. This is the most of any local agency in the state.