Hello Lake County Blogs! A brief introduction

This post originally appeared on the Lake County Convention & Visitors Bureau Blogs section. Thanks to @VisitLakeCounty for the opportunity to contribute!

I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself.

My name is Jesse Mendoza, and I've been a resident of Lake County almost my entire life. I have lived in Waukegan, Wauconda, and currently reside in Round Lake Beach. The best thing I enjoy about Lake County are its forest preserves. As a runner and outdoor enthusiast, I frequent them all year around.

Forest Preserves such as Old School and Independence Grove, both in Libertyville, offer paved and gravel trails long enough to do double digit miles for bikers and runners alike. One of my favorite runs on weekends includes a round trip from Independence Grove, to Old School, and back again. This particular trip is good for 16 miles!

If you are a runner or a biker using the trails that traverse the Lake County Forest preserves, I'd like to offer up a few of my own personal tips to make sure your hike is safe for you and others.

All of these apply to both bikers and runners:

1. Stay to the right of the trail and always slow down around blind curves.

2. When coming up behind walkers, kindly say, "On your left." or, "Passing." Small bells work too!

3. When stopping, pull off to a safe, visible area, off of the trail.

4. Always wear a helmet.

5. When wearing headphones, leave music loud enough to hear things happening around you.

6. Where the trail crosses a street, stop, look both ways, and continue when safe to do so.

7. Always respect the environment. Don't leave garbage behind, and don't disturb nature.

With the warmer months quickly approaching, the preserves will be filled with all sorts of activities from nature walks, star gazing demos, canoe/kayak lessons, bird watching tours, fishing expos, and much more.



I'd like to send along a thank you to Anthony and the folks at the LCVB for giving me the opportunity to write for the blogs section. I hope to bring you more of what Lake County, IL. has to offer and hope you'll enjoy the adventures with me!

For more information on your preserves, be sure to visit http://www.lcfpd.org.

Places to find me on the web:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/jessejstreet
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jessejstreet