NORWOOD PARK — On the northwest edge of the city, rush-hour traffic and strip mall parking lots give way to 160 acres of open prairie and lush forest.
Located along the North Branch of the Chicago River, the Caldwell Woods has long-served as “a mini-escape for people,” said Stacina Stagner, communications manager for the Cook County Forest Preserves. After a $2 million renovation project that included the creation of a wellness center, the forest preserve wants to help even more Chicagoans find peace at Caldwell Woods.
“It’s one of those things that makes the forest preserves so special: You’ve got all of this city busyness, people are hustling and bustling, they’re going about their days — and then you can just step into this and, suddenly, you’re not thinking about traffic and more,” Stagner said while looking out over the Caldwell Woods’ tree line recently.
Improvements made near the new Caldwell Wellness center as seen on March 12, 2026. Credit: Molly DeVore/ Block Club Chicago
Funded in part by a $1.22 million grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Public Recreation Facility Construction, the Cook County Forest Preserves cut the ribbon on the Caldwell Woods Wellness Center last month. Improvements to the center, which was originally built as a warming shelter in 1962, included a redone interior, an outdoor fire ring, a paved trail linking the center to the nearby Whealan Pool Aquatic Center, an ADA-compliant realignment of the path connecting the center to the North Branch Trial, repairs to the outdoor stairs and a bike fix-it station.
The inside of the wellness center now has a wide-open program space that features yoga mats, field guides, binoculars, activity guides for kids, books on birding and tents visitors can use to practice setting up camp.
The walls of the wellness center are lined with preserved moss and poplar bark rings, and a circular lamp hangs from the ceiling, a nod to the fire ring that used to be at the center of the old warming house.
Preserved moss and poplar bark as seen at the new Caldwell Woods Wellness Center. Credit: Molly DeVore/ Block Club Chicago
The center started holding weekly yoga classes this month. It will also host gatherings such as wildflower walks, crafting circles and guided forest bathing sessions inspired by the traditional Japanese practice of outdoor meditation.
Kim Eisendrath, who leads the yoga classes at Caldwell Woods, said she plans on moving some classes outside once it’s warmer.
“There’s something about being in nature, doing yoga, you feel very connected,” Eisendrath said.
The wellness center is also the pilot site for a new partnership program being rolled out by the Forest Preserves. The program will allow community groups and neighbors to host their own workshops at the wellness center by filling out an online form.
Tim Mondl, the north and northwest zones program coordinator for the Forest Preserves, said the center’s partnership program is “the first of its kind.” He said he’s already heard from a woman who lives nearby and wants to use the wellness center to host a native planting workshop.
“We really wanted it to be a community center that’s for the community,” Mondl said. “It’s neighbors teaching neighbors.”
Caldwell Woods was identified as a priority site in 2015 when the Cook County Forest Preserves developed a Gateway Master Plan. Stagner said the goal of the master plan was to identify signature sites that should be promoted as visitor destinations.
Stagner said the Forest Preserve’s Gateway sites are meant to be reminiscent of a “central park.”
“When you think about a small municipality having a central park, the central park is like the heart of the community,” Stagner said. “We want folks to know that you also have that here.”
The new Caldwell Wellness center as seen on March 12, 2026. Credit: Molly DeVore/ Block Club Chicago
Mondl said the Forest Preserves held community workshops to determine how to increase engagement at the priority sites. The idea to promote wellness at Caldwell Woods grew out of those workshops, he said.
Caldwell Woods brings up a lot of feelings of nostalgia for Northwest Siders, Mondl said. Until the late 2000s, the park was known for its toboggan chutes, and it’s still home to a few scattered concrete slabs, which were once used as dancing patios.
Mondl said he hopes the wellness center will help visitors “create memories and experiences for generations to come.”
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