Sugarwood Forest Preserve
From Red Arrow Highway, take Union Pier Road east to Lakeside Rd. Continue east on Elm Valley Road for about 2.7 miles. Watch for the fresh stone driveway and parking lot on your left (after Warren Woods SP entrance).
From Three Oaks Road take Elm Valley Road west for about 0.7 miles, watch for the fresh stone driveway and parking lot on your right (before Warren Woods SP entrance).
Sugarwood Forest Preserve is a plateau of uplands bisected by deep ravines. The northern portion of the preserve boasts an old growth beech-maple forest as well as a ravine with a Galien River tributary, a groundwater seep, and a unique plant community. The rest of the wooded uplands are considered mid-successional mesic southern forests in various stages of regrowth after a history of grazing. The southern ravine system contains floodplains with an impressive number of pawpaw trees. The southern corner is a former agricultural field being restored to a native prairie. A mix of field, successional and old growth forests, and beautiful vistas you need to see through every season to fully appreciate.
https://www.chikamingopenlands.org/our-preserves/sugarwood-forest-preserve
