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Will County Field Trip Ideas

Des Plaines Fish and Wildlife Area - 24621 N. River Rd., Wilmington, IL 60481,  815/423-5326.  Call for hours of operation.  Groups of 25 or more are required to obtain advance permission to use the facility.  At least one adult per 15 minors is required.  Picnicking, fishing, camping, and more.
Dollinger Family Farm has three summer and fall events: The address is: 7502 E. Hansel Rd., Channahon, IL 60410, 815-467-6766. Each event is listed separately below:

  1. Civil War Days Reenactment from October 17th and 19th, 2008, Relive History with President Lincoln, or General Thomas. There are live horses, booming cannons, a spectacular battle scene! Experience a piece of American History. See their webpage for admission fees and schedule of events.
  2. 46th Annual Antique Tractor, Steam Engine and Gas Engine Show from July 17th to 20th, 2008, Admission: Kids 11 and under - $2, Adults - $5. Tractor pull, Steam sawmill, daily parade, live band, refreshments.
  3. Pumpkin Farm from late September thru October 30th, 2008, Free Admission and Parking. Hours: 10am-6pm, attractions include a corn maze, as well as a haunted barn, a petting zoo, a miniature steam train, horse drawn hayrides, and pumpkins!
Gladys Fox Museum - 231 Ninth Street, Lockport, IL  604411,  815/838-1183.  Owned by the Lockport Park District.  Oldest masonry church building in Illinois; area history exhibits.  Call for admissions info and hours of operation.
Herbert Trackman Planetarium - at Joliet Junior College, 1216 Houbolt Avenue, Joliet, IL,  815/280-6682.  Tuesday shows begin at 7:30 p.m. and are for all audiences.  Thursday night shows are primarily for children and begin at 6:30 p.m.  Special programming can be arranged for grade school and high school groups, as well as civic organizations.  Call for complete information.
Illinois & Michigan Canal Museum - 803 S. State Street, Lockport, IL,  815/838-5080.  Daily 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Free admission.
Illinois State Museums: Lockport Gallery - 201 West 10th Street, Lockport, IL 60441, 815/838-7400.  Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday noon to 5 p.m.  Call for admissions info.  The gallery is home to changing exhibits of works by past and present Illinois artists in a variety of media.
Isle La Cache Museum - Will County Forest Preserve District, 501 East Romeo Road, Romeoville, IL.  Phone - 815/886-1467.  French- and Native Ameerican history museum.
Joliet Area Historical Society Museum - 17 E. VanBuren St., Joliet, IL,  815/723-5201.  Call or see web site for current hours and admissions information.  Area history
Lemont Area Historical Society Museum - 306 Lemont St., Lemont, IL,  708/275-2972.  Lemont history including: Old Stone Church, General Store, and more.  Call for current hours and admissions information.
Lockport Street Gallery - 503 W. Lockport St., Plainfield, IL, ; 815/436-0370.  Primarily a  retail gallery, but may be an appropriate venue to review 19th Century to contemporary artwork to begin discussing art history, media, and technique. Gallery does display glass and porcelain works, in addition to their collection of  graphic art works, so may not be appropriate for younger or very "hands-on" children.
Pilcher Park Nature Center - 2501 Highland Park Drive, Joliet, IL,  815/741-72575.  June through August - daily 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; September through May - daily 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.  Hiking, natural history exhibits, 12 different field trip programs, as well as a variety of educational programs and classes, including maple syrup demonstrations (with a pancake breakfast) during the month of March, and lots more.  Call for admissions info as this varies on the class/program/etc.
Slovenian Heritage Museum - 431 N. Chicago St., Joliet, IL, 815/727-1926.  Ethnic history displays.
Will County Historical Society Pioneer Settlement - 100 W. Ninth St., Lockport, IL  60441, 815/838-5080.

PLEASE NOTE:  It should go without saying, but HOUSE assumes absolutely no responsibility for anything that occurs while you are partaking of a field trip with your family.  In addition, please contact the site of your field trip before you go to verify that you have current information on hours, admission prices, and other details.  The field trip information herein has been gathered in an exhaustive search of the various counties and localities on the web.  The information is thus only as accurate and current as the information on the various web sites from which it was gathered.

If you have information about field trip possibilities in your area, please drop us an email at admin@illinoishouse.org and let us know about it, including the county name, so that we can review and possibly include it in our Field Trip Idea pages.  If you have a brochure about a field trip site that you would like to mail to us, please mail it to c/o P.O. Box 74, Ringwood, IL 60072

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