Galloping Hill Wildlife Loop

This half-mile trail loop starts and ends at the Penny Road Pond Parking area. From the parking lot, cross Penny Rd to begin the hike. At the immediate trail intersection across the road, turn left to follow the trail through the wooded area. This trail winds up the SW side of Galloping Hill. At the first trail intersection in the wooded area, turn right to follow the trail out of the wooded area and into the prairie at the top of Galloping Hill. Enjoy the view, examine a wildflower, and keep an eye out for birds and butterflies!Follow the trail as it curves left around the top of the hill, and back into the wooded area. Continue to follow the trail as it curves left and takes you back to the start of the wooded area. Turn left at the first trail intersection once you've left the wooded area to take you back to the Penny Rd Pond parking area.

Before modern settlement, the Barrington-area was a diverse, natural system of prairies, woods, and wetlands. This rich natural world is the ancestral homelands of the Council of Three Fires--the Ojibwa, Ottawa and Potawatomi tribes--and a place of trade with many other tribes, including the Ho-Chunk, Miami, Menominee, Sauk and Meskwaki.More recently, this hill and all of the surrounding prairie, was a combination of farm fields and weeds. The Spring Creek Stewards, a volunteer ecological restoration group, work to restore the native plants and animals of Illinois to Spring Creek Forest Preserve. Volunteers have removed species that are not originally from this area (such as the invasive buckthorn and honeysuckle), to make room for a wide variety of native wildlife - grasses, wildflowers, birds, and more.