Camp Dan Beard

Camp Dan Beard, part of the Forest Preserves of Cook County, has been a Boy Scout staple for more than 50 years. It now features accessible campsites along with renovated rustic cabins ideal for group or family camping. The site also includes open fields for group tent camping. The camp’s shelters and picnic sites provide excellent spaces for events, and programs and activities are available throughout the year.

For the benefit of recreation and conservation, the Lake and Cook County Forest Preserve Districts have protected long stretches of the Des Plaines River by developing a Des Plaines River greenway and bike path along its banks. This trail is a natural oasis within a short drive of Chicago and its northern suburbs. Having such a long, lush trail just outside a densely populated urban area is a wonderful asset to the surrounding community. Together, the forest preserve districts are working to link all the forest preserves with a regional greenway trail and have developed and promoted the recreational use of the river by creating canoe launch sites along the northern and middle sections of the river.