Preservation of Hadley Valley Preserve started in 2000, and extended the Spring Creek Greenway eastward three miles from Walnut Hollow Preserve, and protects a portion of the Hadley Valley Aquifer recharge area (primary source of the City of Joliet’s drinking water), and a scenic vista from Route 6. Hadley Valley Preserve is currently 695 acres and includes a 0.5-mile-wide valley providing a scenic view from Route 6 along the north edge of New Lenox from Farrell Road in Joliet to Bruce Road in Homer Glen.

Access areas at Gougar Road and Bruce Road offer picnic shelters and access to the 4.85-mile crushed limestone Spring Creek Greenway Trail. An additional parking area for the trail is available on Route 6. The trail, suitable for all non-motorized use, including equestrians, connects Hadley Valley with the Joliet Park District's Pilcher Park. The shelter at Gougar Road may be rented for large group picnics, and horse trailer parking is also available there.

The District has partnered with the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority, Openlands, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the O’Hare Modernization Program on a large scale stream de-channelization, wetland, and wildlife habitat restoration project at Hadley Valley Preserve. The ongoing restoration work is the largest restoration effort in the Forest Preserve's history, involving 500 acres of Hadley Valley Preserve. This project has won the following awards: the 2010 Illinois Chapter of American Planning Association's Implementation Award; the 2009 Illinois Parks & Recreation Association's Outstanding Conservation Program; and the 2008 Chicago Wilderness' Excellence in Conservation Award. For more information on this project and partnerships, check out the Hadley Valley Preserve Brochure.

Future planning and preservation will look to link the trail southward to Joliet Park District and Forest Preserve District holdings on Hickory Creek (eventually to the Old Plank Road Trail) and northward along I-355 to the Des Plaines River. The District will work with New Lenox and Homer Glen to extend the greenway eastward to Messenger Woods Nature Preserve and Messenger Marsh Preserve as annexation and development occurs.

Photograph Courtesy of Ron Molk