Irons Oaks

Irons Oaks is the best! We are so lucky to have this great nature center and forest preserve. Irons Oaks hosts tons of fun happenings throughout the year, from summer camps, to ropes courses, hikes, and even birthday parties. They also have several free community events throughout the year including Earth Day celebration, and the Summer Solstice. Definetely work the drive or bike ride down to hike the trails as well!

We had so much fun at Iron Oaks. They did a four hour session with us and incorporated so many fun leadership building activities. We were split into two groups and our leader was De. She was super friendly and offered advice and encouragement when needed. We came out as a stronger team with increased leadership abilities.

This place is SO COOL! I came here for a work team building event and at first I was super intimidated by the high ropes course, but it turned out to be more fun and a lot less frightening than I was expecting. The staff are all really friendly and don’t force you to do anything you aren’t comfortable doing. They have a huge focus on setting your own goals and working at your own pace, which allows everyone to feel accomplished and comfortable. My team specifically worked with Erin, Nancy, and John (although I think John left midway and was replaced by Tommy/​Tom? when we got up to the platform). Erin was up at the top with us and Nancy was helping us from below. They both give very clear instructions and are there to make sure no one gets hurt. If this place weren’t so far (and I had a car :() I’d definitely come out here more often. I want to come back again though and I’ll figure out a way to get there!

If I could rate a 0, I would. They’re staff needs to have better communication with eachother, and respect the authority of the actual coordinators. I wanted to book a party, and even took the time to go in person. As we were booking the party with Cynthia, the actual coordinator, someone else decided to book another party for the same time and date. Even though we were already there, writing down our information and giving them the deposit. I don’t even. know what to say, other than I am truly disappointed. They said its a first come first serve policy. We were there first, in person, booking the appointment. How hard is it to say, I’m sorry, Cynthia is busy booking an appointment, she’ll call you back when she’s done. Without even asking her if the date was still available, the other lady just decides to take matters into her own hands, and book the room. I talked to the manager, and she said there was nothing she could do. You know what she Could do, call the people back, say there was a mix up, and tell them the date was booked in person by someone else. Unfair, unorganized, and our last hope since every other place we called was booked.

I’ve been on quite a few retreats and done about a million team building exercises for various jobs so I feel like I know quite a bit about these sorts of things. Having come to Iron Oaks twice, I must admit they do a pretty good job. While we weren’t able to do elements of the high ropes course, we did some smaller low ropes things as well as team building exercises which the leaders carried the equipment for. Spending a whole day here with your group will really help you get to know one another. Nothing is incredibly challenging but if it is too scary or difficult, you feel pressure in no way to participate. The staff is knowledgeable and friendly and adapts their activities to the crowd the are working with. It is a fairly large facility with plenty of space even for large groups. If you are trying to build stronger bonds with your team or create new ones with a group, this is worth the short drive from downtown.

Talk about an awesome time! My co-​workers and I went here for our intro to our new school year in August and had a ball. This is a team building facility. Although they do have inside areas, everything we did was outside. Kind of reminds me of a recent episode of Giuliana & Bill when they were doing all those team-​building activities with their friends on that ranch… NEway, dress for outdoors with nothing you wouldn’t want damaged on and be sure to bring or wear gym shoes. Pricing is a little expensive but well worth the trip. I came out of the place with a new found respect for myself and my colleagues.