West Ridge Nature Park is a 20-acre nature park developed on land the city bought from Rosehill cemetery along Western Ave, just south of Peterson Ave. It opened in Sept. 2015. It has a 4.5-acre pond, woodlands, wetlands, prairie and savanna habitats. It will be a leisurely walk on paved paths. Tom Murphy is our guide for this walk. The distance is about 0.9 miles on a ‘figure 8’ loop with an exit possible at mid-walk.

Insect repellant will be available, and there are outdoor restroom facilities.

There are many resident birds, squirrels, voles and other small mammals. Deer from the cemetery are regularly present. Great blue herons and other aquatic birds visit regularly to ‘fish.’ Coyotes only visit late at night. The recent rains have brought out many of the sunflowers.

The entrance to the NP is on Western Ave. at Ardmore Ave. The CTA west-bound #84 Peterson Ave bus from the Thorndale Red Line station stops at Western Ave. and the #49B bus on Western Ave. stops at the Nature Park. There is parking along Western Ave.

Tom Murphy is a member of the Park Advisory Council for the Nature Preserve and is the site steward. Find more information about this nature park on their Facebook page.