Lake County Forest Preserves picked the 12 trails in this year's Hike Lake County challenge for their ties to local history, to mark America's 250th anniversary. Three of those trails are a short drive from North Barrington: Cuba Marsh in Deer Park, Grassy Lake in Lake Barrington and Ray Lake in Wauconda. Each was farmland at some point, and each is public land today because someone made a specific choice about it. At Cuba Marsh that was a group of neighbors. At Grassy Lake it was a donor family. At Ray Lake it was a cattle farm that the county bought.
Walking all three this fall takes you through the three main ways open space around here came to exist. They also cover more than half of what you need for this year's medallion.
How the 2026 Challenge Works
This is the program's 28th year. It runs from August 15 to November 30, so as of early October you have about eight weeks left. Walk at least seven of the 12 designated trails, record them on the Travel Log, and submit the log by December 31, 2026 to earn a free bald eagle medallion. You can pick a hiking shield or a zipper pull that doubles as a dog tag. One log covers up to five people, and each household can submit up to two. Dogs can earn a commemorative collar tag on dog-friendly trails, up to three dogs per participant. Only walking counts. Bicycling and horseback riding do not.
Some trails count double, which matters for anyone starting near North Barrington:
| Trail | Distance | Surface | Dogs | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cuba Marsh, Deer Park | 1.6 mi | Gravel | Yes | 1 |
| Grassy Lake, Lake Barrington | 1.8 mi | Gravel | Yes | 1 |
| Ray Lake, Wauconda | 2.6 mi | Grass, gravel, boardwalk | Yes | 2 |
| Wild Card, any LCFPD trail | 2 mi | Varies | Yes | 2 |
The three nearby preserves give you four credits. The Wild Card adds two more, and you can walk it at any Lake County Forest Preserves trail. That brings you to six, so you need just one more trail from the countywide list.
Cuba Marsh: Saved by Neighbors
The Cuba Marsh story is the most direct of the three. Settlers found prairie, marsh and a grove of oaks here. They drained the marsh, plowed the prairie and planted crops. In the 1950s and 1960s, most of the farmers sold to investors who planned to build homes. Local residents wanted the land kept as open space, so they formed Citizens for Conservation and helped the Lake County Forest Preserves secure the property.
The preserve page adds two more details. A mansion overlooking a mosaic of canals and forested islands once stood on the northwest side of the preserve. And the name comes from Cuba Road, which runs through Cuba Township, a township that was called Troy until 1850. It was renamed that year to show support for an uprising on the island of Cuba.
The challenge route is 1.6 miles of gravel. It starts at the Cuba Road lot at 24205 W. Cuba Road and covers both small loops. For a longer walk, the wider trail network has a 0.9-mile spur toward Citizens Park with a boardwalk and a 50-foot timber bridge.
The preserve is still growing. In November 2024, the District approved buying 9.4 acres it had long wanted for Cuba Marsh. The seller's terms bar buildings, trails and parking on that parcel. The purchase supports hydrologic restoration and land management, so it adds to the marsh itself and not to the trail system.
The restoration work is open to volunteers this fall. Cuba Marsh workdays run 9 to 11 a.m. on Tuesdays and Sundays through the end of November. Fall tasks include clearing brush, collecting seed, and planting trees and shrubs.
Grassy Lake: A Donor Family and a Dedicated Fen
At Grassy Lake, the history is in the plant life. Former farm fields are being restored to prairie. Old catalpa, Douglas fir and osage-orange trees are traces of the people who used to live here.
Citizens for Conservation shows up again here, this time with a donor family. Wagner Fen, inside the preserve, is jointly protected. Citizens for Conservation says the Hageman family donated their part of the fen in 1980. The District's part was dedicated as an Illinois Nature Preserve in 2001. So the group that formed to stop development at Cuba Marsh went on to own and care for land a few miles north.
The challenge route is a 1.8-mile gravel out-and-back on the Red Trail. It runs to an overlook and back. The full preserve network has six overlooks with views of the Fox River and Grassy Lake. The sources list two different addresses. The challenge trail map gives 23982 N. Kelsey Road, but the preserve page puts parking at Lake Barrington Village Hall, 23860 N. Old Barrington Road. Check the trail map before you head out.
Ray Lake: A Cattle Farm the County Bought
Ray Lake shows the third way. Kaye and Edward Ray started buying land in 1958 for a purebred Black Angus farm. The District bought the property in 1999, and the farm's original bull statue still stands at the entrance.
Of the three nearby trails, Ray Lake is the only one with extra history panels along the trail itself. All 12 challenge trails have trailhead panels in English and Spanish. The challenge route is 2.6 miles. It starts south of the Erhart Road lot at 23275 W. Erhart Road and crosses grass, gravel and boardwalk. The preserve's standard trail is 2.3 miles through wetlands and prairie, with three boardwalks and an overlook.
Ray Lake also has a recent addition. In August 2025, the District opened a 0.36-mile out-and-back segment through prairie, wetland and woods. It ends at a bench overlooking Tamarack Lake. The segment finished a five-year effort that added the 99-acre Dearlove property to the preserve. To reach it, walk about 0.3 miles east from the Fort Hill Trail lot on Gilmer Road, or follow the Fort Hill Trail 1.2 miles west from the Ray Lake lot. The District's announcement told visitors to follow the Hike Lake County signs to get there. Check this year's trail map to see whether the segment is part of the 2026 route.
Dated Walks Through November
These are the dated programs at the three preserves for the rest of the challenge, as listed on the District's calendar:
- Saturday, October 10, 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. A Spanish-language Caminata en Español at Ray Lake. Meet in the parking lot.
- Tuesdays and Sundays, October 6 through November 29, 9 to 11 a.m. Restoration workdays at Cuba Marsh.
- Saturday, November 7, 1:30 to 3 p.m. Hike Through History at Grassy Lake, led by an environmental educator and a history educator.
- Sunday, November 22, 3 to 4:15 p.m. A free Guided Hike Lake County walk at Grassy Lake, led by a volunteer educator. Registration is required and closes at midnight the day of the walk. Meet at the lot off Kelsey Road. Pets aren't allowed on this walk, though service animals are welcome.
The November 22 guided walk counts toward the challenge and falls eight days before the November 30 deadline. If you need Grassy Lake as your last trail, it's a well-timed way to finish. Once you're done, you can submit your log online, mail it to the District's offices at 1899 W. Winchester Road in Libertyville, or drop it off at the Ryerson Welcome Center in Riverwoods. Processing takes seven to 14 business days. Travel Logs and trail maps are on the Hike Lake County page in English and Spanish.
If a walk past the old mansion site at Cuba Marsh or the bull statue at Ray Lake makes you curious about the history of the land around your own home, Connie Antoniou and her team would be glad to talk it through over coffee. Let's Connect.