James “Pate” Philip State Park, US-1001, US-IL, EN51ux
Rating for Accessibility = A
Rating as a Destination = C
Rating for Restrooms = A
Cost: free
Located at 2050 W. Stearns Road
Bartlett IL 60103
This State park used to be called the Tri-County Park because it was where three counties met: Cook, Dupage, and Kane. It is a converted strip mine being reclaimed. The parking lot for the picnic area is in Dupage county and you can access some of it’s nice hiking trails. A big plus is the restrooms are heated and have running water for flush toilets and sinks.
You enter from Sterns Rd and turn right to go the picnic area for the State Park. The Parking lot is lighted after dark. The current hours are dawn to dusk with more information available at https://dnr.illinois.gov/parks/park.jamespatephilip.html
The Bartlett Nature Center offers activities. There is no camping or food concessions at this park. However, several food options are 2.7 miles east, a 5 minute drive. It is only 20 min west of Schaumburg, so it is my goto local park.
You can setup antennas in the fields and the shelter has picnic tables. There are not a lot of big trees to use, but there are medium ones you can easily use to lean a fiberglass mast into. I typically use a 17′ whip on a tripod and just put some weight on the tripod base. There are some large power transmission lines nearby that are probably adding some noise. I have not noticed it.
Local pictures
