On a group tour of Horizon Farm Forest Preserve and its rolling pastures, a visitor joked that it would make a great par 3 golf course. Nature lovers shuddered at the thought, though such a use is prohibited on the site.

But the comment illustrates the tension the Forest Preserve District of Cook County faces balancing preservation and recreation. The district’s main mission is to preserve open space, and provide “nature-compatible” recreation.

In the case of Horizon Farm in northwest suburban Barrington Hills, the issue boils down to whether to save a half-mile horse racing track. The nearly 400-acre preserve used to be a horse breeding and training ground. The track was used to train thoroughbreds for racing at the now-closed Arlington International Racecourse.

When the forest preserve district bought Horizon Farm out of foreclosure for $14.5 million in 2013, officials expressed openness to keeping equestrian uses of the site. But 10 years later, the racetrack sits filled with wild plants, unused, its railing falling apart. A big chunk of the preserve remains closed, and some trails are overgrown. Horse lovers and other preserve users are wondering whether the district will save the track.

“It’s really a prize,” Barrington Hills Park District President Dennis Kelly said. “There’s been a lot of interest in the equestrian community, but we have not gotten a response.”

Not everyone is married to the idea of a horse track. Friends of the Forest Preserves, an independent nonprofit, takes the general position that recreation in the forest preserves — from boating to fishing to camping — should facilitate enjoyment of nature.

“As soon as recreation becomes about the activity, that is not in line with what should be done with the forest preserves,” Friends President Benjamin Cox said.

The group supports horse trails since anyone can use them, but has not taken a position specifically on the horse track. Exclusive sites such as a golf course or baseball diamond are only for those uses, so Friends would prefer not to build those in the preserves.

Recent recreational amenities at other forest preserves include canoe and kayak launches, five campgrounds, off-leash dog parks and the Go Ape treetop adventure course in Western Springs.

One group that likes the new preserve returning to nature are bird lovers, who’ve seen a resurgence of grassland birds at Horizon Farm. Ebird.org reported 91 species found there, including the rare Henslow’s sparrow, bobolink, dickcissel, and eastern meadowlark.

As for the horse track, Chicago Audubon Society President Judy Pollock said, “That’s for the forest preserve to decide. They just have to balance the needs of users. Everyone in the bird community is super excited about it the way it is now. We’re definitely in the camp of trying to get as much bird habitat as possible.”

The Barrington Hills Park District has offered to mow, restore and maintain the crushed rock and dirt track and surrounding railing. Kelly said the work would be done without cost to taxpayers by extending an agreement with the Riding Club of Barrington Hills and the Fox Valley Pony Club, which already maintain trails and cross country horse jumps in Spring Lake Forest Preserve across the street from Horizon Farm.

Equestrian supporters say many people would be free to use the trails, track and grass infield, including hikers, runners, bikers, cross-country skiers, kite fliers, soccer and polo players. The forest preserve ripped out fence posts on the preserve but left post holes and nails, Kelly said, so it would be better to have a defined area with safe footing for horses and everyone else.

After extended litigation with the prior owners, the forest preserve district didn’t take unimpeded possession of the property until 2019. Since then, it has demolished more than 20 buildings on site that were old or in deep disrepair. It installed signs and turned some roads into trails, all at a cost of about $750,000.

The closed south end still needs to be prepared for use, forest preserve spokesman Carl Vogel said.

Preserve officials are creating a master plan for the site with trails, restrooms and restoration, delayed from early this year and now to be released this fall. In the past couple of years, the district also acquired two more properties just to the west, created a parking area outside the farm, and mowed a trail to connect Horizon Farm with the Spring Lake preserve.

The district held a public meeting in 2022 on the future of the Horizon Farm, and will hold another once it has a draft master plan to present, Vogel wrote to the Tribune. Officials are discussing the best course of action.

Use of the track likely would require adding more parking for horse trailers, and could affect the local bird population.

“That facility is a part of the history of the site and would be a resource for the local equestrian community,” Vogel wrote. “On the other hand, the Forest Preserves always needs to balance how much land we dedicate to recreational use and how much to natural areas that can be home to native plants and animals.”

Robert McGinley, member of the family that previously owned the farm and signed a conservation easement to restrict its development, worries that the longer the district takes to decide, the less likely it is that the track will survive.

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