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Thatcher Woods Forest Preserves, a 300 acre (121 hectare) area encompassing natural floodplain forest, upland forest, savanna and prairie straddles the Des Plaines river for approximately two miles between North Avenue and Madison Street. The natural areas occur within three land parcels collectively known as Thatcher Woods: Thatcher Woods, Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), and Thomas Jefferson Woods. Among the earliest land purchases of the Cook County Forest Preserve District, these holdings are primarily on the east side of the river. They form the entire western boundary along Thatcher Avenue in River Forest, a secure and quiet residential community just ten miles west of downtown Chicago. A North Western commuter train station (Thatcher Station), located on Thatcher Avenue, provides ready accessibility to the nature trails that exist in all three units. The Thatcher Woods unit at the north end of the Thatcher Woods river corridor is connected to the GAR and Thomas Jefferson units by Thatcher Woods Glen, an area that includes Trailside Nature Museum and Interpretive Center and a new wild animal rehabilitation hospital. |