Women conquer all 10 Woods Walk trails in single day

A group of women who joined the Forest Preserve District of Will County’s 2025 Woods Walk hiking challenge decided to amp up the experience and complete all 10 hiking trails in one day.

Woods Walk is one of many Forest Preserve programs and initiatives supported by The Nature Foundation of Will County. Since 2020, The Nature Foundation has given $13,000 in support of Woods Walk, including $3,000 for this year’s challenge.

Woods Walk participants have up to three months, from Sept. 1 to Nov. 30, to walk seven of 10 trails to earn the 2025 commemorative medallion, which features a fox. But that pace was too poky for the 5 a.m. Project, an informal group of women who train together as part of the Prairie State Road Runners organization. They completed all 10 trails on Labor Day. 

“Due to the holiday weekend, we had an extra day to play,” said Diana Sorich, a member of the 5 a.m. Project. “All of us are in training for half-marathons, full marathons or a 50-miler, and we have all done 50K races. And we love the trails.”

The Shorewood woman said she asked fellow 5 a.m. Project member Sharron Simons of Channahon if she wanted to complete all 10 trails in one day.

“If we could run a 50K, we could certainly walk 19 miles with breaks in between, right?” Sorich said in an email. “The reason I love these women was her response wasn’t, ‘No, that is dumb.’ It was, ‘What time would we start?’ I ChatGPT’d our course and posed it to the rest of the group, and three other ladies jumped on board!”

The other group members who completed the Woods Walk challenge in one day were Susan Bolatto of Braidwood, Gaby Martinez of Minooka (who serves on the Minooka Village Board) and Vickie Walker of Joliet.

Playing in the woods

Sorich said the women thoroughly enjoyed the adventure.

“Well, we laughed a lot, and we were really happy to be enjoying the outdoors,” she said. “We felt like kids playing in the woods. When we were done with our final trail, Hammel (Woods), we had our customary celebratory margarita for a job well done. I also gave each lady her choice of sticker that I purchased from the Four Rivers Environmental Education Center as a keepsake.”

The best part was discovering how each trail had its own unique style, and that Will County is a lot bigger than they realized, she added.

“We started in the cool morning with the mist over Rock Run Rookery and were greeted by a baby deer and her older brothers and sisters,” Sorich said. “We saw plants and wildlife, a snake, birds and so many butterflies. It made us thankful for the preserves.”

The only thing the group would do differently is hike at Kankakee Sands Preserve during a cooler part of the day.

“We walked Kankakee Sands in the mid-afternoon with full sun and there was no shade there — we should have done that one first,” she said.

Sorich said 5 a.m. Project members are now even bigger fans of the preserves after their labor of love on Labor Day.

“Thank you so much for doing these challenges,” she said. “We have done your challenges before, the 5K runs as well as the Triple Crown, where we ran all three of the longest trails. We ran 13 miles of the I&M Canal Trail in one day, took two days to run 22 miles of the Wauponsee (Glacial Trail) and ran 14 miles of the Old Plank Road Trail on the final day. We enjoy the outdoors, and we are grateful to have a Forest Preserve District that takes good care of our trails and nature spaces.”

The Nature Foundation’s support for Woods Walk and other recreation programs aligns with its three pillars: protecting nature, inspiring discovery and bringing people and nature together.

Foundation executive director Tara Neff said she appreciates that programs like Woods Walk encourage people to visit new preserves and explore new trails. She hopes these experiences that incentivize spending time outdoors inspire participants to develop a deeper appreciation for the natural world.

“We want people to care about nature and we want people to enjoy the benefits of nature,” Neff said. “We also want people to understand these natural areas provide us with essential services like clean air and clean water.”

Join the 2025 Woods Walk

While the 5 a.m. Project tackled Woods Walk in one day, most take their time walking the trails over weeks and months. And there is still plenty of time to join the challenge. You can pick up a trail log booklet at a visitor center and mark off each path as you complete it, download a travel log to fill out or use the free Goosechase app to record completed trails. Check out the Woods Walk program page for details. 

The deadline to submit a completed travel log to receive a commemorative medallion is Sunday, Dec. 7.