Chicago has a green escape where the city seems to disappear, and it was designed for the whole world to see. Wooded Island, the forested heart of Jackson Park on the South Side, was created by Frederick Law Olmsted for the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, and it is still the park’s nature sanctuary today: more than 35 acres of mature oak woodlands, lagoons, bridges and meadow, just steps from the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry and Lake Michigan.
The island’s walks pass quiet wildlife areas and birdwatching spots on the Mississippi Flyway, the Bobolink Meadow, Yoko Ono’s Sky Landing sculpture, and the golden Statue of the Republic rising over the Columbia Basin — a smaller replica of the great figure that once presided over the fair. Garden paths wind past historic pavilions and the wooden gates of the Osaka Garden, while families spread blankets beneath the trees and photographers chase the reflection of the statue in the lagoon.
Best of all, it is free and open every day from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Enter from Hayes Drive or follow the park’s Lakefront Trail access points, and bring binoculars: herons, egrets and warblers are regulars here. On your next trip to Hyde Park, give yourself an hour on Wooded Island — it is the White City’s greenest goodbye, still welcoming Chicago 130 years later.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
