2026 Medicinal Plant Walks
with Chicago herbalist, Alex Williams
Acquaint yourself with the medicinal and edible plants of our bioregion – join myself and fellow plant lovers to explore all of the wonderful medicinal & edible plants at various locations throughout Chicago!
At these walks you'll have the opportunity to connect with plants, learn about ethical foraging and wildcrafting, deepen your ecological awareness of our unique and beautiful bioregion, and gain a better understanding of how to utilize our local plants and mushrooms for food or medicine from the perspective of a clinical herbalist.
We will discover different plants (and some mushrooms) at different times during the year and at different locations, so feel free to come to more than one, as you will learn new things each time!
We will finish off our plant walk with a general Q&A at the conclusion of each walk.
~ There are only 15 spots available per walk ~
Solidarity Pricing:
To make this opportunity accessible for as many folks as possible, we offer 4 spots at each plant at a significantly lower cost (excluding guest or co-led plant walks). Generally these spots are reserved for low-income or BIPOC folks.
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~ additional 2026 dates are anticipated ~
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Saturday, May 30, 2026
10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Morton Arboretum
I am honored to have begun guiding medicinal plant walks at Morton Arboretum over the past year. Join us for a spring plant walk where we will be exploring my favorite area of the West side including parts of Schulenberg Prairie, Willoway Brook, and Sterling Pond which offers overlapping plant communities commonly found in priarie, wetland, and oak savanna ecosystems.
Check back later in the year for an update on my late summer / fall walk at the arboretum!
Wednesday, July 22, 2026
6:15 pm - 8:00 pm
Humboldt Park
A wonderful place to explore tons of Chicago Region natives that are typically found across diverse ecosystems within a very short walk. Prairie, wetland, and aquatic plants nestled underneath willows, alders, and cottonwoods. Much to explore here and likely very close to your front stoop!
Wednesday, June 10, 2026
6:15 pm - 8:00 pm
Montrose Bird Sanctuary
Join us for a laid back evening walk through the Montrose Bird Sanctuary which combines woodland, savanna, and prairie habitat in a very small area! Stick around for a bit after the walk to catch the sunset colors over the Chicago Skyline.
Date TBD (but very likely a Wednesday evening in early August)
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Horner Park
From industrial corridor hosting brick manufacturers, to riverside garbage dump, to oak savanna restoration, Horner Park has had a very unique history of landscape changes over the course of the last century.
Fortunately, thanks to efforts by the Chicago District US Army Corps of Engineers, Chicago Park District, and Friends of The Chicago River (among others), we now have a beautiful native plant restoration along the river, native medicinal and edible plants are found in abundance.
The paths are narrow though so be prepared for a close and cozy plant walk :)
For this walk, I am joined by the delightful Natalie Ann Evans – forager, educator, and doula, for a deeper exploration of the edible plants of our bioregion, with a little bit of the medicinal uses of plants from myself!
We will be exploring the Wooded Island and Bobolink Meadow in Jackson park, which used to be an old oak savanna sandbar prior to the park being built out for the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. This plant walk is a little earlier to ensure it doesn’t get too dark on us, but I understand that this can be a difficult time for rush hour.
Wednesday, September 9, 2026
5:30 pm - 7:15 pm
Jackson Park
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Morton Arboretum – details on the Morton Arboretum website.
Montrose Bird Sanctuary – click the link for the precise meeting location.
Humboldt Park – Meet in the grass near the parking lot of the Humboldt Park Field House (1440 N Humboldt Blvd, Chicago, IL 60647). Click the link above for precise location.
Horner Park – 2741 W Montrose Ave, Chicago, IL 60618 – click the link for the precise meeting location.
Jackson Park – meeting location TBD
For all locations, try to arrive a few minutes early so we can start on time.
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Morton Arboretum – details on the Morton Arboretum website
Montrose Bird Sanctuary – Typically there is street parking on Montrose Harbor Drive by the bird sanctuary – most of this parking is pay to park, ~$5 for two hours. There are also spots further away from the Bird Sanctuary on Montrose Ave, just after crossing under Lake Shore Dr that are mostly free. They are the perpendicular spots about a 5ish minute walk from the entrance to the bird sanctuary.
Humboldt Park – There is a small parking lot at the field house and if full people typically park on the street leading into the parking lot which never seems to be an issue. There is also spillover parking at the boat house just down the street. Street parking is also available at this location surrounding the park.
Horner Park – Street parking is available at this location on California Ave. There are also parking lots within the park just off of California Ave. Parking lot and street parking can be very full on weekends so make sure to arrive early to find parking.
Jackson Park – will update when meeting location is decided
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Morton Arboretum – details on the Morton Arboretum website
Montrose Bird Sanctuary – Located Here – Google Maps says ‘temporarily closed’ but they were open last time I was there on Friday (8/15/25).
Humboldt Park – There are restrooms located in the fieldhouse across the parking lot from our initial meeting spot.
Horner Park – There are restrooms located in the Horner Park fieldhouse at the northwest corner of the park, a quick walk from our initial meeting spot.
Jackson Park – will update when meeting location is decided
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See ‘Considerations for Plant Walks’ link above.
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For the most up-to-date information regarding the plant walk, please return to this webpage. You will also receive a reminder prior to the date of the plant walk. Please add alex@greenspell.org to your contacts so emails related to the plant walk don't get sent to your spam folder.
You can reach out to alex@greenspell.org with any questions prior to the start of the plant walk, but I won’t be reachable once the plant walk begins.
