Lake Forest Open Lands Association is a private not-for-profit corporation known generically as a land trust. It is community-based, membership-driven, and run by a board of directors who are all residents of the Lake Forest area. There are over 1200 land trusts nationwide, many of them as old as 100 years. Collectively they have preserved over 6,200,000 acres across America, all through the actions of private citizens. In the Midwest there are still only a handful of land trusts, but their numbers are growing steadily as people increasingly see the need to preserve open space beyond the efforts of the local, state, and national government bodies traditionally charged with this task.

All of our nature preserves are open to the public and provide year-round opportunities for outdoor recreation. We maintain 12 miles of nature trails for casual walking, nature hikes and cross-country skiing. We also bring families together for memorable special events throughout the year, including Earth Day and Dog Day in the spring, and Bagpipes & Bonfire and Witches Walk in the fall.