The REAL Waterfall Glenn Waterfall
This cache is placed with the permission of the Forest Preserve District of Du Page County
Most people go to to Waterfall Glenn to see the man-made waterfall, which was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. But what most do not know is that Waterfall Glenn also has a natural falls and cascade off of Canyon Creek in the southwest corner of the preserve. For many years it went unnamed until 2014 when (on my birthday) the U.S. Board on Geographic Names approved the application of two geographers and a journalist to name the creek, falls,and cascade. You can read about that here
The falls are best viewed after a rain or snow melt. During dry periods the creek, and hence the falls, often goes dry. Although it is interesting to see the formation when it is dry as well.
Another interesting bit of trivia is that Waterfall Glenn is not named for its waterfalls. The preserve was renamed in 1973 after Seymour “Bud” Waterfall, who was an early board president of the Forest Preserve District.
Most people stick to the main path at Waterfall Glenn, but there are sections of lovely single track in the preserve and a hidden artisian well, which you can visit at this earth cache. There is also a small 3 foot cascade near the falls, and you can explore the single track along the creek. I have spent a decent amount of time trail running in Waterfall Glenn, and it is fun to get off of the wide trail and explore.
For the shortest walk, you can drive up Bluff Road and park outside the gate. There is a trail that allows people to get around the gate into the park. For a longer hike, there is main lot a bit down Lemont Road. Take the main trail to the right.
The trail to the falls is between the railroad tracks and the gate. You can get there entirely on trail and will turn downstream at the cascade . You have to get down to the creek and look back toward the area of the cascade to see the falls
This cache is part of the Virtual reward project, and it was important to me to place the cache somewhere that a physical cache would not be appropriate. Waterfall Glenn does not generally allow physical caches in this part of the preserve and was kind enough to give me permission to direct people to this lovely location through the use of this virtual geocache. As always, practice good outdoor stewardship and respect the area when visiting.
Log your Find!
To log your find please upload or send to me a photo of the falls with something included in the photo to show that you were there. This could be yourself (a selfie), your GPS, Your water bottle, a thumbs up. Just don't do a shot of only the falls.
Virtual Reward - 2017/2018
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between August 24, 2017 and August 24, 2018. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards on the Geocaching Blog.
