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Blackwell
Warrenville
Maps
The main entrance is on the north side of Butterfield Road 0.25 mile west of Winfield Road.
The McKee Marsh parking lot is on the north side of Mack Road east of Route 59.
The off-leash dog area is on the south side of Mack Road east of Route 59.
Hours
The preserve is open one hour after sunrise to one hour after sunset.
General Info
Dogs are allowed at the forest preserve but must be on leashes under 10 feet long. Alcohol is prohibited. Read our complete rules and regulations.
Things To Do
Hike, bike, ride horseback, and cross-country ski on more than 7 miles of trails.
Horseback riders need to park trailers at the McKee Marsh lot and cannot ride on the Egret Trail or in developed areas.
When trails are groomed for cross-country skiing, other trail users should avoid walking on the set tracks.
Our beginner, advanced and interactive ranges each have bow racks and limestone shooting lines with overshot and clear zones. You need to bring your own gear and a Forest Preserve District permit.
Explore Blackwell from the water by renting a canoe, kayak, rowboat or paddleboat on Silver Lake April – September.
Or get a permit and use your own canoe, kayak, stand-up paddleboard, or other select nongasoline-powered watercraft on Silver Lake. (You do not need a permit to access the West Branch DuPage River via the canoe launch on Mack Road.)
Reserve a campsite for tents, trailers, or motor homes Friday and Saturday nights May – September (extended dates around the holidays). Each site has electricity and a gravel parking pad, fire ring, and picnic table, but none have sewage or water hookups.
The self-guided compass course on Mount Hoy challenges you to find your way through the outdoors by following a series of directions. Details are on our Wayfinding page.
Have fun with your four-legged friends at Blackwell's fully fenced off-leash dog area. You need to carry a permit for each dog you bring.
Silver Lake, White Pond, and Sand Pond offer great fishing for bluegill, catfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, rainbow trout, and walleye.
Anglers 16 or older who are not legally disabled must carry valid Illinois fishing licenses (inland trout stamps, too, if they're fishing for trout). Lake maps and regulations, including creel limits and minimum lengths, are on our Fishing page.
Blackwell has dozens of picnic tables and grassy areas where you can spread a blanket. Ground fires are not allowed, but you can bring grills. (The preserve has hot-coal containers for charcoal.)
You can reserve Hawthorn Grove, which holds up to 300, or one of four 100-person shelters, some with grills or electricity. Details are on our Picnicking page.
Take a thrilling ride down Mount Hoy when 3 or more inches of snow covers the hill. You need to rent a District inner tube but can do so at the base of the hill weekends and school holidays December – February, when you can also rent snowshoes. Visit our snow tubing FAQ page for details and current hours of operation.
You can't sled on Mount Hoy, but you can sled, cross-country ski, ice fish, and ice skate in other areas of Blackwell. Rangers do not monitor conditions, though, so you do so at your own risk. As a guideline not a guarantee, a minimum of 4 inches of ice is recommended for any ice activity. For details, visit our Winter Fun page.
Each of the 12 sites at Blackwell's youth-group campground holds 25 campers and has its own picnic tables and fire ring.
The campground is open year-round but is for the exclusive use of youth groups, which are defined as recognized, nonprofit organizations whose members are 17 or younger. Only members of qualifying groups with their accompanying leaders may camp here.
Natural Features
Blackwell's gently-rolling, hilly terrain features oak and hickory woodlands, prairies, grasslands, and wetlands that attract a variety of native wildlife, including wild turkeys, deer, bald eagles, great blue herons, coyotes, red foxes, and muskrats. Blackwell's McKee Marsh, located north of Mack Road, features trails and two vernal ponds where amphibians such as the northern leopard frog breed. Bird species such as the wood duck, blue-winged teal, and solitary sandpiper forage in the area.
History
Visitors at Blackwell walk on land shaped by the retreating Wisconsin Glacier 12,000 to 15,000 years ago. After the glacier’s retreat, savannas with widely-spaced oak trees formed on the higher ground while the lower-lying ground became home to marsh and prairie plants. At Blackwell’s McKee Marsh, the 13,000-year-old skeleton of a woolly mammoth — one of the oldest finds of its kind in northeastern Illinois — was discovered in 1977.
In the 1830s, Erastus Gary, one of Winfield Township’s first settlers and a founder of Gary, Indiana, made his home on the land that is now Blackwell Forest Preserve. There, he operated a grist mill — Gary’s Mill — east of the West Branch DuPage River. The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County purchased the land 130 years later and named it after Roy C. Blackwell, a former District president.
The District converted a quarry on the south side of the preserve into a multiuse area to retain stormwater and provide visitors with a variety of recreational activities. The quarry became Silver Lake. Authorities later chose Blackwell for the site of a county landfill, which operated from 1965 to 1973 and provided valuable knowledge about managing solid waste. Today, Mount Hoy serves as a scenic overlook and popular birding site as well as a winter tubing hill.
DuPage forest preserves' biodiversity is impressive, and it’s something we should not take for granted.
Joey R., West Chicago