This winter, instead of running away from the snow, embrace it! Lace up your hiking boots and head out to Urbana’s parks. Urbana is known for its four unique seasons – and with the winter months bring new opportunities to enjoy some of Urbana’s finest parks and their features.

On a warm spring morning, I was walking a mown grass trail along the east side of the wooded corridor of McCullough Creek in Meadowbrook Park. I was looking for birds, hoping especially for a brilliant orange Baltimore oriole, when I saw something run across the path in front of me. It was far too small for a deer and …

My first memory of spending time in an Urbana Park was as a college student who wanted to get away from the fray on campus. As a student, I discovered that Carle Park was a great place to study as well as to discover that there was a community outside of campus. Little did I know during those days that …

By Corky Emberson, CPRP Superintendent of Recreation, Urbana Park District Urbana Park District parks, facilities, programs and classes are for everybody. We make sure that the trust the public places in us with their tax dollars is honored with high-quality, safe and enriching activities. It is easy to pay lip service to inclusivity. But, lip service isn’t enough. Each Park …

The Urbana Park District has played an important role during the entire 49 years my husband Greg and I have lived in Urbana. Both of us have our degrees in zoology and biology so interacting with nature is important to us. The first year we were here we were delighted to find an apartment across the street from Crystal Lake …