Memorial Day is traditionally one of the busiest weekends in the Forest Preserves, but because of COVID-19, people are being encouraged to hold cookouts, picnics and other holiday activities at home this year.

Too many visitors are flocking to the most popular forest preserves and ignoring social distancing rules, prompting weekend parking lot closures through the end of May, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle announced Friday.

Most trails remain open in Cook County’s forest preserves, offering people a respite from home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic, but that could change if people congregate like they did along Chicago’s lakefront. 

From the Amazon to Jiuzhaigou Valley, the world’s forests are racking up hashtags. But there’s no need to travel out of Cook County in search of photogenic flora.

Authorities on the hunt for coyotes in downtown Chicago after two reported attacks, including one where passersby said they had to pull a wild canine off of a 6-year-old boy who was bitten in the head, captured one animal Thursday night on the city’s North Side.

Sometimes the best thing for a forest or prairie is to burn it. We spend a day with a Cook County burn crew.  

More fallout in the wake of a viral video that has resulted in hate crime charges and a police officer’s resignation.

A video shot in a Cook County forest preserve has caught fire on social media and is prompting blowback from county officials on both sides of the aisle.

Experts are predicting an increase in tick-borne diseases like Lyme disease this season. Find out how to protect yourself—and what to do if you get bitten by a tick.

Starting Saturday, thrill-seekers and nature lovers will get the chance to swing, soar and climb through a new zip line and obstacle course nestled in the treetops of a Cook County forest preserve.

How local forest preserves are using fire to maintain the Chicago area's natural ecosystem, much like Native Americans did prior to European settlement.

Badgers are known for their elusiveness: the mostly solitary animals travel and forage at night, moving from one place to another very quickly. But wildlife biologists recently got lucky and caught one in northwest Cook County.

A viewer's video, shared with "Chicago Tonight," shows his encounter with a coyote in Columbus Park while walking his two dogs. Coyote mating season has begun, which means the urban animals may behave aggressively.

The Cook County Forest Preserve District makes its biggest land purchase in nearly 50 years snapping up a foreclosed 400 acre horse farm in Barrington Hills.  We look at how the Forest Preserve was able to afford the $14.5 million property and what it might become.