Why we do it

The answer is as clear as a sunny afternoon on the trail. See the dozens of joggers, bikers, and children walking with parents—all surrounded in natural beauty. You’ll understand.

Native Plants

naturally good neighbors
Over centuries, native plants evolved together with birds, butterflies and other species to create a balanced, healthy environment.

Alien Invasion!

Not little green men, but little green plants from across the seas—often beautiful, but frequently evil. Many are brought here as decorative ground cover. Sometimes they arrive as hitchhikers.

Monarch Hatchery

Observe, both in the wild or at our children-friendly hatchery, the monarch butterfly growing from egg to caterpillar, caterpillar to chrysalis, and chrysalis to majestic monarch.

Volunteer and Support

We need your help. The Friends of the Green Bay Trail is an entirely volunteer organization. Join us when you can.

Upcoming Events

Fun Facts – Did you know?

The Good Father

A male cardinal (the bird, not the priest) is very much like a Glencoe dad. He shares duties of parenthood; takes care of mom during the incubation period; and helps protect and care for the little ones until they leave the nest. Even then, the young follow him around for a few days even after leaving the nest. Sometimes they hang around even longer, until they learn to find food on their own.

Divorce Isn’t Optional

A female praying mantis makes a bad spouse. They behead and eat their husbands as part of their mating ritual.

All-Seeing

Monarch caterpillars rule all the realm they can see. And they can see a lot, because they have 12 eyes! On each side of their head, they have 6 tiny eyelets, called stemmata, arranged in a semi-circle.

Green Bay Trail Day - A Sunny Success

Shoulder high blooms and colorful flag banners welcomed visitors to the Trail. The vent offered refreshments, live music, and an opportunity to engage in conversations with 22 organizations and individuals who offered 30 information and experiential stations along the Trail. Visitors filled tote bags with native plants, oak tree samples, craft projects, sustainable gardening resource materials, and free samples. New to the event were 12 fairy houses hidden in Shelton Park and 8 plein air painters. View pictures of the festivities at gbtrail.org.

Many thanks to our generous sponsors, the organizations and individual exhibitors, and more than 40 volunteers who helped make Green Bay Trail Day an enjoyable and festive event.

Views from the Trail Videos

We are pleased to showcase two videos in the Gallery – “A Summer’s Day on the Trail” and “Scenes from the Trail.”

What we do


We are environmental stewards of the Green Bay Trail, restoring a natural,  prairie eco-system. Our goal is to make the trail a national example of the healthy intersection of nature and culture that inspires community and individual well-being. LEARN MORE

The Green Bay Trail is on the Map!

The Green Bay Trail has met the Homegrown National Park challenge. The Trail’s restoration showcases results achieved by implementing practices advocated by the Homegrown National Park initiative.

Homegrown National Park  cofounders Doug Tallamy, author of Bringing Nature Home, and  Michelle Alfandari,  advocate using public and private spaces to support and expand biodiversity; “In the past, we have asked one thing of our gardens: that they be pretty. Now they have to support life, sequester carbon, feed pollinators, and manage water.”

83% of U.S. land is privately owned.  Tallamy and Alfandari  challenge property owners to select ecologically effective plants, shrink lawn size and remove invasives on these  sites. These efforts will significantly restore the needed diversity to offset increasing climate change impacts.

*Accept the challenge. Start this fall and view the results next spring.

Get on the Map
Become a Homegrown National Park

Native Keystone Plants for Wildlife

Garden for Wildlife

About Native Plants

From the Field Museum

A Trail for all Seasons

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