OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS 



51 



How well these facilities are appreciated by the public has 

 been shown by the number of visitors that flock into the preserves 

 on Sundays and holidays though the district has been opened 

 to the public less than two years. Already hundreds of thou- 

 sands have made their pilgrimages to Cook County's forest land 

 and week days also see the streams of exploring parties and 

 family groups coming from the city and country seeking rest 

 and recreation. 



And what is it that constitutes the chief attraction for visi- 

 tors ? It is the forest land to be found in its primitive state with 

 all its wild, natural, rugged beauty, with its wild flowers and 

 other growth, with its birds and with its animals. 



BOY SCOUTS CAMPING ON PRESERVE. 



With city-folk, particularly fed up as they are on city 

 parks with their transplanted trees, their cultivated plants, closely 

 mown-lawns, all man-made scenery deadly for its sameness 

 the natural forest with its ravines, streams, and hills is an un- 

 deniable lure. 



However it is a novelty that never wears out because be- 

 neath all that is the study that grips everyone Nature. Then 

 there are the historical associations which give almost every 

 tree, rock and stream its part in state and national history 

 our only connections with antiquity aside from written words 

 and a few relics. 



