Conservation District Planning Crystal Lake Gateway to Lake in the Hills Fen

I have long complained that the McHenry County Conservation District has short-changed Crystal Lakers.

As a proxy for the town, I have focused on Crystal Lake Grade School District 47.

Using that definition, part of the Lake in the Hills Fen is in Crystal Lake.

But one cannot get to it without going through Lake in the Hills.

Now, the MCCD is working with Crystal Lake to prepare a Crystal Lake gateway.

The new entrance would be behind the new CVS Pharmacy, right near the end of the Lake in the Hills airport runway.

The MCCD’s Anne Basten provides these details, plus the map you see:

The final details of how much property is leased to the District and how much will be passed on Fee Simple to our ownership has not been determined and is pending input from the Illinois Department of Conservation.

The 1.45-acre parcel on the SW corner of the Crystal Lake property is where the barn currently exists.

The acreage along the top and the east side of the Crystal Lake property is mostly wetland with the Crystal Creek running through it which then feeds onto the District property.

We do not have tentative drawings or anything in the way of what amenities, etc., will be offered. (Probably parking, bathroom, water and tables eventually.)

Once we have the deed/lease in our hands, we will have to start by working with the County Department of Transportation, etc., to determine traffic access, etc., before we can start designing.

At this point we are happy to know we have access for our management work and will be working from there as part of our comprehensive master planning process.

= = = = =
The map is from Google, but it obviously was taken before the recent commercial construction. You can see the airport runway to the right and the intersection of Randall and Ackman Roads to the left. McHenry Avenue and Randall Road meet in the upper left hand corner.


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *