Valley Of Eden Bird Sanctuary

This place is beautiful! It has beautiful countryside rolling hill views! You can see for miles! Mostly prairie grasses and paths are plowed/mowed out and are very wide and very well marked. Several paths and can walk less than a mile to 5+. Kinda hard to get lost a farm solo will always be your guide back. There is an outhouse at the parking site all year round! This is a hidden gem, if its raining or snowing or has you might want to have a 4wd or AWD vehicle. Is on what looks like private property keep going you will see this beauty! And there is a sledding hill (make sure you have 4wd or AWD I do and it still made me nervous if you're not use to it).

There are some rare habitats and birds and its really beautiful throughout. There is a great mixed shade hike through much of the sancuary. Also there are some great views of the sunset from the observation deck.

We are not bird watchers, but it's a beautiful place to hike, fairly flat trails, but great views and sunsets. Great place to take your dogs, but only allowed October thru February. Nonetheless, well worth checking out!

A beautiful place to spend part of a day. About six miles of trails with approximately 30-40% wooded/shaded. Saw a lot of different bird species including at least half a dozen hawks and a white tailed deer that was frightened out of hiding by my loud trail clomping. Confused by some of the negative reviews talking about lack of signage and not seeing many birds. It isn’t a zoo. It’s a chance to see a large number of species in their natural habitat while enjoying the beautiful surroundings. If I had gone slower (and quieter) I probably would have seen a lot more bird species. Planning to return again and go a bit slower now that I have the lay of the land.

We used the Merlin app by Cornell Labs to sound ID over a dozen species. The Bobolinks - a challenged species - were showing off. Also saw Eastern Meadowlark - another challenged species. This is a true sanctuary. It is clean and well maintained with a portable rest station. Do no come here expecting caged birds on display. These are birds in their natural habitats. Enjoy the walk and with patience, the birds will reveal themselves. We also saw many hawks, kildeer and wild turkey.

I have walked the whole property many times from the early 1990s to present. I've been blessed to have lived so close. The wildlife is abundant if you take your time and observe.

I really enjoyed this place. Walked through fields of wild flowers and trees on nicely mown paths. Spent an hour and half here, and didn't get on all the paths. The deck is great, and information station helpful. Happened upon an abandoned farmyard orchard and saw a group of cedar waxwings there feasting on the fruit. Saw other varieties of birds too. Will definatly be back during peak migration season.

Beautiful area. Saw a flock of several hundred Tree Swallows, a pair of eagles, several turkeys, and a Great Blue Heron. Time of day, season, and migration will determine what you see. People complaining here clearly don’t understand the importance of conservation and value of sanctuaries like this. Closed for hunting during hunting season, so plan ahead.

Huge, very peaceful, beautiful birds

Beautiful preserve with over 6 miles of hiking trails and an observation deck. Over 100 bird species have been observed here, including the Henslow’s sparrow, bobolink, and red-headed woodpecker.

Absolutely wonderful! Just the drive in is an incredible experience, and the sanctuary is beautiful, well curated, and some of the most amazing scenery in the midwest!

Beautiful and peaceful...THANK YOU for this wonderful detox from our "regular living". Pause and reset. Got our happy minds back... Saw birds, heard birds & bugs...felt peace... lovely... If you are a strong critic, please move along. We don't want you there to mess it up for the rest of us...

Beautiful morning here. Thanks to Ben and team for taking care of this magical place!!

Too early for many birds but beautiful and very clean. There is a spotless Porta potty onsite

Awesome. Saw a lotta birds.

Wonderful what the doing here

Nice place to go hiking, but not many birds

I was expecting more birds. I only got to see 1 or 2 birds in close view. Every other bird is very small and far away to see.
I would recommend this place if you want to go star gaze or something of sort, but not bird viewing.

I wasn't impressed. I went mostly for the trails the website said they had. But, it was all just mowed paths within a prairie. They also don't allow dogs, which I get, but don't understand. I won't be going again.

A disappointment! It was just open fields with mowed paths. All sun, almost no woods, and no observation points or even informational placards. We saw more birds in the middle of Galena.