Be a Trailblazer: Hike Lake Chaminwood

Editor’s note: We want you to Be a Trailblazer this year, so we will be hiking at various preserves throughout the year and documenting it for you. Journey along with us as we blaze a trail through the preserves and hopefully encourage you to do the same.

^{|  Story by Meghan McMahon |}

^6/6/2025

The time between seasons can be a difficult one to navigate, even as spring transitions to summer. While some days are warm and sunny, others are cold and cloudy, a reminder of the early spring days we just made it through.

Our visit to Lake Chaminwood Preserve was on one such cloudy and unseasonably cool day that was more reminiscent of early April than late May. But you wouldn’t have known it looking at all the cars in the parking lot in the middle of the day on a Thursday.

Lake Chaminwood, so named for its proximity to Channahon (CHA), Minooka (MIN) and Shorewood (WOOD), can be a hotspot when the weather is nice, which is one of the reasons why the preserve underwent a series of major improvements in 2023 and 2024 to make it more accessible for more people. The work included a trail connection allowing people to access the I&M Canal State Trail, the installation of two new additional fishing piers and an accessible kayak launch, expanded parking areas and the addition of a welcome plaza.

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On our visit, we saw walkers, joggers, cyclists and people walking their dogs, plus anglers spread out along the shoreline hoping to reel in a good catch. Forest Preserve Operations crews were working diligently to keep the preserve in tip-top shape, and we also stopped to chat for a few minutes with a crew of Forest Preserve staff and volunteers who were working to clear invasive honeysuckle from a section of land between the trail and lake.

About the only thing we didn’t see while we were there were people out on the water, probably because of the unseasonably cool weather. On warm days, you will usually see people out in the water in kayaks, canoes and boats, either fishing or simply enjoying the scenery.

Kayaking at Lake Chaminwood was made a little easier in 2024, when a self-serve kayak rental station was installed — the first of its kind in the Will County preserves. The rental season runs from April 1 to Oct. 31, and the cost for a rental is $25 for the first two hours and $15 for each additional hour. Each rental includes a kayak, paddle and life vest.

Lake Chaminwood also has an accessible and adaptive canoe and kayak launch. Small personal fishing boats are allowed as well, but only boats that can be carried or rolled by hand cart are permitted.

Aside from all the people, green dominates the landscape at Lake Chaminwood in spring and summer. We saw some bright yellow butterweed here and there, but you won’t see wildflowers here like you will in the prairies in summer. Instead, grasses surround the lake and trees line the edges of the trail.

If you can, take some time to look in the lake here. The water is quite clear — clear enough to see fish, sometimes many, swimming in, out and around the aquatic grasses and other vegetation. You can get a good look at any of the fishing piers, but one of the best places to peer into the water is the wooden trail bridge that spans the connection between the lakes.

As you walk at Lake Chaminwood, the water views are a constant. Part of the trail is a 0.7-mile asphalt loop circling the eastern side of the lake, and the new trail extension runs along the western lake then spans the I&M Canal before connecting with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources’ I&M Canal State Trail. The water views have been improved of late, with Forest Preserve staff and volunteers clearing brush between the trail and lake along the new trail extension.

As is typical of the Forest Preserve’s recreation hotspots, wildlife viewing isn’t as great here as at other preserves. We heard songbirds singing all around and saw a few chipmunks scurrying about, but most of the wildlife we saw was on the water itself.

The back lake (or, rather, the back section of the lake because the two lakes are really one large lake with a bridge spanning their narrow connection) can be busy with wading birds and waterfowl, and that was the case when we visited. We stopped on one of the fishing piers for a few minutes and saw many great egrets and great blue herons standing still in the shallow waters along the shore as they waited for a meal to approach. Out on the water we saw a few double-crested cormorants, mallards and, of course, ever-present Canada geese.

One benefit to a walk at Lake Chaminwood Preserve is that it can be pretty much as long or as short as you want it to be. If you’re short on time or not up for a big trek, you can walk the 0.7-mile looped trail at the front of the preserve and call it a day. If you’re up for something more, you can continue onto the I&M Canal State Trail, which stretches 61.5 miles along the historic I&M Canal towpath from Rockdale to LaSalle. 

If you head left on the I&M Canal State Trail, you’ll be heading toward Rockdale. To the right are Minooka, then Morris and on until LaSalle. The trail includes mile markers with historical information. Cycling and snowmobiling are also permitted on the state trail and, just as on Forest Preserve trails, basic trail etiquette applies.

(Lead image by Glenn P. Knoblock)