BY ANDREW MORKES, FOUNDER AND AUTHOR OF THE “NATURE IN CHICAGOLAND” BLOG AND BOOK
Exploring natural areas in the Chicago area is fun in itself, given the wide range of our natural habitats (e.g., prairies, forests, canyons, lakes, rivers). But, it’s even better when you can celebrate the completion of a hike with a Bungalow Lager, Astro Fizz Sour, Wildcat Cream Ale, Devil’s Paintbox, Rugged Coalminer Porter, Beerantoni Italian Pilsener, Buffalo Gose, or other tasty beer. But how do you find both great nature spots and good nearby breweries and tap-rooms? Artificial intelligence-fueled Web searches are not always trustworthy. Word-of-mouth is better, but a book is best. Luckily, there’s a carefully researched book that will be of great help for those looking for beer and hiking trails for hikers at various skill levels. Authors (and husband and wife team) Jessica Sedgwick and Dan Ochwat did the hard work (translation: fun work) to identify some great hikes and breweries in the Chicago area. Their book, Beer Hiking Chicago and Beyond: The Tastiest Way to Discover the Windy City (978-3-03964-033-1, 2024, Helvetiq), is an informative, well-organized, and entertaining resource that will be a useful addition to anyone’s Chicago-area nature (and beer lover’s) library. I talked recently with Jessica Sedgwick about the book.
Q. Can you tell me a little about Beer Hiking Chicago?
A. Beer Hiking Chicago is a guidebook that curates 30 hikes across Chicago’s historic neighborhoods and the suburbs of Chicago, as well as provides a couple nearby excursions to Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin. Each hike is paired with a nearby brewery to visit after the walk, and the book recommends a signature beer to try at each location to cap off the adventure. We pair hikes, breweries, and beers that feel like a representation of the neighborhood and the experience, while offering a variety of styles of hikes and beers to try.
The book includes trail descriptions, points of interest along the way, and a rating of beers by appearance, aroma, taste, and style.
But what makes Beer Hiking Chicago different from other travel books and even other books in the series is it’s a family project, written by a married couple with a son in tow, so the detailed experiences can’t help but be done with a family or friends in mind and delivers a relatable and personable touch to a hiking book.
Q. What made you want to write the book?
A. Like many people during the pandemic, my husband and I were looking for safe ways to get out and still try to enjoy life, and get our son out of the house and away from screens. We started exploring all of the amazing nature areas all over the city and suburbs and would pair them with a brewery since they are mostly very kid friendly, and it’s okay if you show up to one gross and sweaty. I had written an article for Chicago Magazine, where I worked at the time as an art director, about our adventures. A few years later, the publishers of the book, Helvetiq in Switzerland, reached out to me to see if I’d like to write a Beer Hiking Chicago book. They had been producing a series of “Beer Hiking” books already, including in the Northwest, California, New England, and even internationally. They saw my article on hikes and breweries to visit in Chicago and asked if I’d like to write a Chicago version. I said, “yes!,” and brought my husband into the project, since he’s a writer for a living, and it would be too big of a project to do alone in such a tight timeframe.
Selected pages from the Mathiessen State Park chapter
Q. What was most challenging and most rewarding about writing the book?
A. To be honest, the challenge was getting all 30 hikes done in just a few months. As you know, Chicago’s weather isn’t the kindest at times, so we really only had one late spring and summer to drive to every hike, map it, take notes, organize photos, and then write each hike, and work with our editor on each chapter. Dan and I were working full-time jobs, so it was challenging to find the time to work on it. The rewarding part is honestly hiking as a family and then going to the brewery. I love checking out a new brewery for the first time and talking to the people who work there and make the beer and learning about what makes it special. I think when writing it, too, we never really thought we’d interact with readers, so it’s also been rewarding to meet people who have enjoyed the book and went on a hike and tell us their favorite beers. The book in a lot of ways is about community, so talking with readers and interacting with a beer hiking community is really rewarding.
Q. After writing the book, what did you discover about Chicago nature and/or area breweries that you did not know when you started writing?
A. I’d say it was surprising and beautiful to learn how much these hikes and breweries can represent an overall identity and feeling of a town or area of the city. I think when we were mapping out hikes and breweries, we were studying distances to keep breweries as close to a hike as possible, and we wanted to cover regions on a map and we wanted to include breweries that had some history, if possible. But, then, once you do the hike and visit the brewery, you immerse yourself in this little slice of life for a few hours and it becomes bigger than just a guidebook. You’re experiencing a new community. We’ve lived in Chicago for 20 years, but you can get stuck in your neighborhood, so a book like this forces you to get out and see parts of the city you didn’t make time for before, and various suburbs, too.
Q. What are some of your favorite nature spots in the book, and why?
A. I might be biased because we live so close to it, but North Park Nature Center/Walking Stick Woods is a favorite. On the main trail at the center, I love how in a short hike you experience a variety of nature, from savanna to woodland to wetland trails. There are always deer around and the hike is an immediate dose of peace in a bustling city.
Orland Grassland is also this never-ending prairie walk that’s so peaceful and unique. I know the book is a lot about hikes that are great for families, but this is a great one to go alone. It’s you, your thoughts, and ever-spanning wildflowers and sunflowers.
Then, for more adventure, Skokie Lagoons can be a very fun, tumultuous hike. It’s a narrow, bumpy, winding, sometimes confusing trail, and when the nature is overgrown, it towers over you and forms tight walkways. By the end, you feel like you went through something and you’re ready for a beer.
Copyright (opening and closing text): Andrew Morkes
Copyright (interview): Jessica Sedgwick
Copyright (photos): Jessica Sedgwick
Final Thoughts from Andrew Morkes
Beer Hiking Chicago is a nice addition to the growing library of books about our beautiful natural areas in the Chicago area, and its brewery/beer recommendations provide even more value to readers. It’s highly recommended.
Two important notes: Since its publication in May 2024, one of the breweries (Alarmist Brewing) that was included in the book has closed and one (Short Fuse Brewing Company) is closing on February 15, 2026. This is sad news, but the book remains an excellent resource. I suggest trying to visit Short Fuse Brewing Company before its last day. Short Fuse plans to open at a new location in the future. For those planning to visit North Park Nature Center and/or Schiller Woods South and who need a brewery suggestion, I recommend Printers Row Brewing (4801 N. Austin Avenue, Chicago, IL 60630, 773/657-3224), one of my favorite neighborhood destinations. Both North Park Nature Center and Schiller Woods South are located about a 15-minute drive from Printers Row Brewing.
Beer Hiking Chicago can be purchased at Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and other providers.
Looking for some other great nature destinations in Chicagoland? If so, check out my book, Nature in Chicagoland: More Than 120 Fantastic Nature Destinations That You Must Visit. It features amazing destinations in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Click on the title to learn more. The book has 306 pages and 210+ photos and is only $19.99.
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ABOUT ANDREW MORKES
I’ve been writing and editing for more than 30 years. I’m the founder of College & Career Press (2002); the author and publisher of “The Morkes Report: College and Career Planning Trends” blog; and the author and publisher of Hot Health Care Careers: 30 Occupations With Fast Growth and Many New Job Openings; Nontraditional Careers for Women and Men: More Than 30 Great Jobs for Women and Men With Apprenticeships Through PhDs; They Teach That in College!?: A Resource Guide to More Than 100 Interesting College Majors, which was selected as one of the best books of the year by the library journal Voice of Youth Advocates; and other titles. They Teach That in College!? provides more information on environmental- and sustainability-related majors such as Ecotourism, Range Management, Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Built Environment, Sustainability Studies, and Sustainable Agriculture/Organic Farming. I also served as a member of the parent advisory board at my son’s school for five years.
In addition to these publications, I’ve written more than 70 books about careers for other publishing and media companies including Infobase (such as the venerable Encyclopedia of Careers & Vocational Guidance, the Vault Career Guide to Accounting, and many volumes in the Careers in Focus, Discovering Careers, What Can I Do Now?!, and Career Skills Library series) and Mason Crest (including those in the Careers in the Building Trades and Cool Careers in Science series).
Here’s a list of the environmental-focused titles that I’ve written:
- Nature in Chicagoland: More Than 120 Fantastic Nature Destinations That You Must Visit
- Wind Turbine Technicians (Great Careers Without a Bachelor’s Degree series)
- Environmental Scientists (Cool Careers in Science series)
- Renewable Energy Careers (Cool Careers in Science series)
- Environment (Getting Started series)
- Solar Power Technicians (Careers in Infrastructure series)