In 2021, Dan Ochwat and Jessica Sedgwick were looking for family activities to undertake with their tween-aged son, so they started taking urban hikes that wrapped up with a round of coldies for the adults at a local brewpub. This kickstarted a family habit of researching nature hikes and exploring craft breweries, and Sedgwick, a journalist and art director, wrote up some of her favorites for Chicago magazine.
Soon after, Helvetiq, a Swiss publisher, reached out to the pair to invite them to write a book on the topic. “Beer Hiking Chicago and Beyond: The Tastiest Way to Discover the Windy City” is the latest title in a popular international beer and hiking series published by Helvetiq, which includes advice on exploring breweries and trails in Bavaria, the Pacific Northwest, New England and the Canadian Rockies, to name just a few of the regions covered.
They were thrilled to share their experiences and explorations with other families, and to expand their knowledge of the region’s beers and hikes. Ochwat, a writer and editor, explained, “It wasn’t super-calculated — this is what we do! We hike and then say ‘Where’s the nearest brewery?’ And it was a natural fit for us to write it together.”
The family spent weekends during the spring and summer of 2023 adventuring, plotting points on a map, taking pictures and sampling beers in and around Chicagoland. “Our son took some amazing photos for the book,” Sedgwick said. “Any of the wildlife photos are from him!” They were thrilled to uncover so much natural beauty just outside their Lincoln Square front door. “The city has done some really cool things to create nature escapes.”
They particularly loved it when they stumbled upon an urban area that had transformed into usable park space. West Ridge Nature Park, for example, at Ardmore and Western, used to be a dirt dump for Rosehill Cemetery, but was repurposed in 2015 as an idyllic nature preserve complete with boardwalks and native plant life. Luckily, Half Acre Beer Co. lies just one mile south for easy access to post-exertion beverages.
Inside the book’s pages, 30 hiking areas and breweries in the city and the surrounding suburbs come alive thanks to Sedgwick and Ochwat’s helpful descriptions. More travelog than serious trail guide, the book’s prose adds color and charm to each ramble, plus tons of information about the brewhouse of the day. We learn, for example, that Black Horizon Brewery in Willowbrook is one of just four Black-owned breweries in the Chicago area — and is a must-visit after a 10-mile hike and dip at nearby Waterfall Glen.
The highly detailed template includes clear directions to the trailheads, plus a map and turn-by-turn hiking directions once you are on the path. In addition to thorough information about the parks and breweries, the authors packed the book with facts about local art, history and culture — significantly more than you’d learn from an everyday trail map.
One of their favorite discoveries was Skokie Lagoons, which they call a “wet and wild island trail.” Many visitors explore this group of connected waterways by canoe or kayak, but there’s an often muddy, unmarked trail that locals call Nike Island, Sedgwick said. “If you’re up on the northeast parking lot, there is one little way to get into the inner island of Skokie Lagoons. And it is the coolest way to see the entire lagoon because you’re seeing it from a totally different point of view than we’re used to.” Naturally, you’ll earn a Ravinia Brewing Diversey Station Pale Ale after your trek.
Both beer and hiking fans might find some surprises among the entries. Many South Siders are familiar with Palmisano Park, a former quarry and landfill reinvented by the city as a glorious grassy park with an incredible view of the Chicago skyline. Duneyrr Fermenta, the unique brewery paired with this unique hike, started operations in 2021, offering beer-wine hybrids and experimental hops and cultures that will expose your senses to some novel brews to match the city views.
The ultimate takeaway, for the authors, was that just like a park or nature preserve, a brewery or pub can be the center of a community as well. Ochwat said they started to notice “how connected each brewery is to each community. … You already know that the park becomes a central point for the community to use green space. But a brewery is much the same, (people) come here, and congregate, and you just know you’re with people of that community, with a different sort of energy for each one.”
The result — a compilation of urban and suburban family adventures complete with all the information needed for a successful park-to-brewery experience.
Lisa Futterman is a freelance writer.
