About
Sagawau Environmental Learning Center Programs include educational programs, interpretive hikes, guided walks, and self-guided walks that focus on the natural environment. The grounds offer hiking and walking, birding, and ecological restoration activities that involve removing invasive plant species. In winter, the same trails are used for cross-country skiing, with ski rentals, beginner ski lessons, and bird banding also available.
• Schedule: Visitor center and classroom open year-round, 9am–4pm; trails open year-round, 8am–4pm; both closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. Sagawau Nordic (cross-country ski center) operates from mid-December to early March, seven days a week, 9am–4pm, weather permitting, with ski rentals available 9am–2pm and returned by 3:45pm; ski lessons are held on Saturdays and Sundays in January and February starting at 9am.
• Price: Ski rental package rates are $15 per person for individuals, $10 per person for seniors, $40 per family, and $30 per person for a lesson/rental combo; ski lessons cost $20 per person.
Sagawau Environmental Learning Center’s visitor center and classroom include exhibits on geology, human and natural history, and habitat management, and the grounds have four walking trails that become groomed cross-country skiing trails in winter where walkers are not allowed. Sagawau Canyon Nature Preserve is part of the program site, supports rare and unique plant and animal habitat, and features the only natural exposure of bedrock in Cook County, with individual access restricted to guided walks. In winter with adequate snow, the site operates as Sagawau Nordic, described as a premier full-service cross-country ski center that offers classic and skate skis in youth and adult sizes for rental, with each rental package including skis, bindings, boots, and poles for use on-site only and a trail pass required while skiing. All skiers renting equipment must reserve a rental time online when there is skiable snow, with weekly reservations posted on Sunday at 8:30am, and payment for rentals and lessons is by credit or debit card only. To rent equipment, a person must be 18 or older and provide a valid driver’s license or a $100 deposit, and a parent or guardian must sign for children under 18 taking lessons. Complimentary lockers are available with a key deposit that requires a valid driver’s license, and ski lessons are taught by a PSIA-certified professional ski instructor from a PSIA Gold Medal Ski School. Event partners at the Trash Bash event collect electronics, prescription drugs, household recyclables, bikes, clothing, plastic bags, and more, and visitors can take part in Ecological Restoration Weekend by helping remove invasive plant species to restore Sagawau’s diverse ecosystems.
Last updated May 25, 2026.
• Schedule: Visitor center and classroom open year-round, 9am–4pm; trails open year-round, 8am–4pm; both closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. Sagawau Nordic (cross-country ski center) operates from mid-December to early March, seven days a week, 9am–4pm, weather permitting, with ski rentals available 9am–2pm and returned by 3:45pm; ski lessons are held on Saturdays and Sundays in January and February starting at 9am.
• Price: Ski rental package rates are $15 per person for individuals, $10 per person for seniors, $40 per family, and $30 per person for a lesson/rental combo; ski lessons cost $20 per person.
Sagawau Environmental Learning Center’s visitor center and classroom include exhibits on geology, human and natural history, and habitat management, and the grounds have four walking trails that become groomed cross-country skiing trails in winter where walkers are not allowed. Sagawau Canyon Nature Preserve is part of the program site, supports rare and unique plant and animal habitat, and features the only natural exposure of bedrock in Cook County, with individual access restricted to guided walks. In winter with adequate snow, the site operates as Sagawau Nordic, described as a premier full-service cross-country ski center that offers classic and skate skis in youth and adult sizes for rental, with each rental package including skis, bindings, boots, and poles for use on-site only and a trail pass required while skiing. All skiers renting equipment must reserve a rental time online when there is skiable snow, with weekly reservations posted on Sunday at 8:30am, and payment for rentals and lessons is by credit or debit card only. To rent equipment, a person must be 18 or older and provide a valid driver’s license or a $100 deposit, and a parent or guardian must sign for children under 18 taking lessons. Complimentary lockers are available with a key deposit that requires a valid driver’s license, and ski lessons are taught by a PSIA-certified professional ski instructor from a PSIA Gold Medal Ski School. Event partners at the Trash Bash event collect electronics, prescription drugs, household recyclables, bikes, clothing, plastic bags, and more, and visitors can take part in Ecological Restoration Weekend by helping remove invasive plant species to restore Sagawau’s diverse ecosystems.
Last updated May 25, 2026.
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