The DuPage County Forest Preserve District celebrated the opening a new 34-acre off-leash dog area at Hawk Hollow Forest Preserve in Bartlett with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sept. 1.
The area features four separate, fully enclosed fields, including one just for dogs under 25 pounds, as well as an enclosed 1.2-mile limestone trail and a 60-vehicle asphalt parking lot off Bittersweet Drive just south of Stearns Road.
The new area will replace the off-leash dog area approximately 5 miles away at Pratt’s Wayne Woods Forest Preserve in Wayne, which will remain open until Dec. 31,
A key feature of the new facility is its rotating activity fields, which will allow the district to close off one area to give the turf a rest while keeping a second area open for use.
"The Hawk Hollow area is a hybrid design New off-lease dog area opens at Hawk Hollow Forest Preserve of the best elements of all of the district’s off-leash dog facilities,” Forest Preserve District Manager of Planning Kevin Horsfall said.
The area is the result of a 2012 cooperative agreement between the district and the Canadian National Railway Co., which allowed the railway and transportation company to use 5 acres at Pratt’s Wayne Woods for track improvements in exchange for approximately $3.1 million in forest preserve improvements, including habitat enhancements, a new model airfield at Pratt’s Wayne Woods and the new off-leash area at Hawk Hollow.
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