FIELD NOTES BLOG

City Nature Challenge 2026

April 22, 2026

City Nature Challenge is Friday, April 24th- Monday, April 27th


As spring becomes in full bloom, every naturalist's favorite time of the year returns: City Nature Challenge! City Nature Challenge is an annual, global, 4-day bioblitz at the end of April, where cities compete and collaborate to document plants and wildlife in and around cities throughout the world and help fight biodiversity loss! Every observation you make of WILD nature is a data point that helps scientists and researchers understand and protect nature for all of us.


This event first began in 2016 as a friendly competition between Los Angeles and San Francisco, with the goal of engaging residents and visitors in documenting nature to better understand urban biodiversity. Since then, it has turned into a worldwide competition that over 100,000 people participate in! The goals of this now global event is to engage the public in the collection of biodiversity data, with three awards each year for the cities that make the most observations, find the most species, and engage the most people.


Participating in the City Nature Challenge is easy, and it’s accessible to people of all ages and education levels in the sciences! All you have to do is download the free mobile app iNaturalist, take photos of wild flora, fauna, or fungi, and share the photos to iNaturalist to document your observations. If your plant ID isn’t too sharp, don’t worry! iNaturalists automated species identification feature can often help you identify what you're spotting, as well as the community of users on iNaturalist that includes professional scientists and expert naturalists. The observation period is followed by several days of identification and the final announcement of results.


In Rockford, we are part of the Rock River Valley City Nature Challenge Team. The Rock River Valley Team is coordinated by Severson Dells Nature Center and includes multiple partner organizations. Any post made in Winnebago, Boone, Ogle, DeKalb, and Stephenson counties counts toward the Rock River Valley Team's total. This means anyone who makes posts in this region is part of our team! Partner organizations include Rockford Park District, Nature at the Confluence, Byron Forest Preserve District, Northern Illinois University, Boone County Conservation District, Forest Preserves of Winnebago County, Natural Land Institute, DeKalb County Forest Preserve District, and Atwood Nature Center.


City Nature Challenge Events:

All City Nature Challenge Events are free and do not require registration! 

Friday April 24


8am-11am: BioBlitz @ Chief Shabonna Forest Preserve 4490 Preserve Rd, Shabbona, IL 60550 Drop In Event

  • Join the DeKalb Forest Preserve for a drop-in BioBlitz! Learn how to use iNaturalist and participate in City Nature Challenge. Document the world’s biodiversity and discover the world around you.


10:00am-11:30am: Byron Forest Preserves Hike @ Jarrett Prairie Center 7993 N River Rd, Byron, IL 61010

  • Join Byron Forest Preserve staff at our nature museum for a brief view of our local habitats, and then join us for a mile walk on the Four Hills Trail. Half of this prairie underwent a prescribed burn in the spring, so we can find early prairie plants and also find dried flowers and plants from last year. We will also have the option of taking an extra loop through the Rubbing Rock woods to find spring ephemerals.


10:00am-11:30am: Guided Hike with Winnebago County Forest Preserves @ Kilbuck Bluffs Forest Preserve S Bend Rd, Rockford, IL 61109 (Meet at 3061 South Bend Road)

  • Join a global team of citizen scientists and help document the diverse flora and fauna found at Kilbuck Bluffs Forest Preserve! The group will search for spring ephemerals like spring beauties, mayapples, and bloodroot, as well as migratory birds, early insects, and signs of life in Kilbuck Creek. All data collected during this free guided hike will join the observations recorded during the 2026 Rock Valley City Nature Challenge!


12:00pm-1:00pm: Urban Nature Family Adventure @ Rockford Public Library 215 N. Wyman Street Rockford, IL 61101

  • Wild nature doesn't happen just in the forest! Let's see what urban nature we can find on this family friendly lunch adventure. 


2:00pm-4:00pm: Birds and Plants with Byron Forest Preserve @ Bald Hill Prairie Preserve 5502 N Silver Creek Rd, Mt Morris, IL 61054

  • This preserve is known for rare and endangered plants and many grassland birds. We will certainly hear some meadowlarks and see plenty of badger burrows.


3:00pm-4:30pm  Guided Plant Hike with Boone Co. Conservation District @ Piscasaw Fen Conservation Area 8605 Norris Ln, Capron, IL 61012

  • Join Brian Hale to uncover the wonder of Piscasaw Fen, a unique type of wetland! Expect a hike around a mile and don’t forget to take pictures! An introduction to iNaturalist will precede the hike. 



5:00-7:00pm Hilly Hike with Byron Forest Preserve @ Howard Colman Hall Creek Preserve 12749 N Weldon Rd, Rockford, IL 61102

  • This will be a moderate hike on hilly terrain that includes a wet creek crossing. We will walk through recently burned prairie and oak hickory woodlands and see the results of restoration work that cleared the newer portion of this preserve of "junk" trees and invasive honeysuckle.



Saturday April 25


9am-10:30am: Wildflower Hike with Boone County Conservation District @ Flora Prairie Nature Preserve 498 Poole Rd, Cherry Valley, IL 61016

  • Capture the beauty of Flora Prairie Nature Preserve, one of the last remnant prairies of IL, as you discover the flowers that call this place home! Expect a hike around a mile. An introduction to iNaturalist will precede the hike.



10am-12pm: Oak Savanna Hike with Byron Forest Preserve @ Stephen and Deirdre Nardi Equine Prairie Preserve 6651 N River Rd, Byron, IL 61010

  • We will walk a mile back to Rohrssen Hill and a nicely restored oak savanna. We are likely to see early lupine, mountain mint, prairie bush clover, and other spring growth as well as many bee species that emerge this time of year.



10am-12pm: City Nature Challenge Observation Strolls with Natural Land Institute @ Lind-McGeachie Preserve, 6100 Fitzgerald Rd. Rockford, IL 61102 Drop In Event

  • Join the NLI Community Outreach & Engagement Committee as they host a "City Nature Challenge Observation Walk". Attendees will be invited to walk the trails and take photos of all kinds of species and load them on iNat for the City Nature Challenge Rock River Valley. NLI staff and volunteers will be on hand to help them as needed with the iNat app and walking the trails.



11am-12pm: Guided Plant Hike @ Nature at the Confluence 306 Dickop St, South Beloit, IL 61080

  • Join staff from Nature at the Confluence as we go on a guided walk past Turtle Creek and the Rock River, using iNaturalist as we go! 



1:00pm-3:00pm: Macroinvertebrate Study with Byron Forest Preserve @ Barrick Oaks Homestead Preserve 3515 E Oak Grove Rd, Byron, IL 61010

  • Join us for a moderate hike at this gorgeous preserve. We will also conduct a water survey of macroinvertebrates in Mill Creek, so you may want to bring water shoes. This is also a great preserve for birding.



6:30pm-8:00pm: Sunset Bat Stroll @ Atwood Nature Center 2685 New Milford School Rd, Rockford, IL 61109

  • Let's see what comes out at sunset! Join Atwood and Severson Dells staff for a twilight stroll as we look and listen for "crepuscular" creatures, and use a bat pack to see what bats we can find! 


Sunday April 26


1:00pm-2:30pm Birds, Bees, and Blooms with Boone County Conservation District @ Spencer Conservation Area 899 Appleton Rd, Belvidere, IL 61008

  • Catch the buzz about the local birds, bees, and blooms with Brian Hale and Joel Neylon! An introduction to iNaturalist will precede the hike.


5:00-7:00 pm Deer Run Forest Preserve 5691 River Rd, Cherry Valley, IL 61016 Cosplayers for Community Science!

  • Combining a passion for cosplay and community science, we encourage folks to wear family-friendly cosplays to this community science hike! We will take non-commercial pictures in our epic costumes while taking pictures of plants and animals for this global bioblitz. Wear a comfortable cosplay and shoes that work well on muddy or uneven ground. Cosplays can be simple or grandiose, what matters most is that you have fun wearing it! Make sure your phone is charged and has iNaturalist downloaded. We encourage folks to provide their own water, sunscreen, and bug spray as needed. Any questions can be directed to host Andrea Wallace Noble at andrea@seversondells.org.


Monday April 27


1pm-3pm: BioBlitz with NIU's Campus Sustainability @ NIU's East Lagoon Drop In Event

  • Help us finish City Nature Challenge 2026 strong by joining NIU Campus Sustainability for a City Nature Challenge Bioblitz! Learn how to use iNaturalist and explore our peri-urban ecosystem. NIU Campus Sustainability staff will train you on how to use the iNaturalist app before sending you on a journey through campus and the surrounding community to capture photos of our natural world around us. This is a drop-in event. Please come anytime between 1pm and 3pm. 



5:00pm-7:30pm: Nature ID Hike with Boone County Conservation District @ Distillery Road Conservation Area 7421 Distillery Rd., Belvidere, IL  61008

  • Join Boone County staff Ben Davies and Ace Minson to explore the habitats of Distillery while looking for different flora and fauna species! Expect a longer hike as we take the time to capture the beauty of this site. An introduction to iNaturalist will precede the hike.


New this year!


On April 29th from 5:30-7pm we will be hosting an ID Extravaganza at the Rockford Public Library Main Branch. Invite participants and bring yourself to see how many CNC observations we can get to RESEARCH GRADE! No prior nature knowledge needed! 


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