The 185-acre Wood Dale Grove rests on the Tinley Moraine, a ridge of rocks and soil deposited around the Lake Michigan basin during the last glacial period, which ended roughly 10,000 years ago.
Wood Dale Grove is comprised of an upland forest, a natural wet prairie, ephemeral ponds, and wetlands, which are home to owls, deer, amphibians, and other forms of wildlife — some rare — as well as rare plants. It is a rest stop for many avian migrants, such as common loons, yellow-rumped warblers, and ruby-crowned kinglets, and a nesting area for hooded warblers, black-cuckoos, and blue-gray gnatcatchers.
An upland savanna in the northern section of the forest preserve is home to native spring perennials like jack-in-the-pulpits, spring beauties, rue anemones, trout lilies, and red trilliums.
