Swallow Cliff Woods

Palos Township is one of 29 townships in Cook County, Illinois. As of the 2020 census, its population was 56,836, with its most populous municipality being Palos Hills (pop. 17,484). The vast majority of the township's population resides in its eastern half; the half west of La Grange Road consists of the Palos Forest Preserves, a section of the Cook County Forest Preserves. In 1850 the small town of Trenton, Illinois changed its name to Palos; this recommendation was made by M.S. Powell, the local postmaster, whose ancestor supposedly sailed with Christopher Columbus from Palos de la Frontera. When it incorporated as a village in 1914, Palos officially became Palos Park. Nearby communities incorporated later: Hickory Hills, in 1951, and Palos Hills, in 1958. All three municipalities lie completely or substantially within Palos Township. Palos Heights, partially in Worth Township, incorporated in 1959. Township offices are located at 10802 S. Roberts Road in Palos Hills. The municipalities of Worth and Bridgeview also lie partially in the township. Palos Township's approximate borders are Harlem Avenue (Illinois Route 43) on the east, 135th Street on the south, Will-Cook Road extended to the DuPage County line on the west, and 87th Street on the north; in the northwest, the township border follows the Des Plaines River from 87th Street to DuPage County's southeast corner. The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, designated a National Historic District in 2011, passes through the township just south of the river, and the Cal-Sag Channel roughly bisects the township from east to west.

Moraine Valley Community College is a public community college in Palos Hills, Illinois. Established in 1967, it is surrounded by the Cook County Forest Preserves. The college also operates satellite centers in Blue Island and Tinley Park, Illinois.

The Palos Forest Preserves are 15,000 acres of forest preserves in the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, located principally in Palos Township, Illinois.During the 1930s, the area of the Palos Preserves south of Archer was known as the Argonne Forest. This commemorated the battleground of the Meuse–Argonne offensive where over one million Americans fought during World War I. During World War II, Argonne Forest land leased to the Army Corps of Engineers became Site A, a research facility where experimental nuclear reactors built for the Manhattan Project helped in the development of the first nuclear weapons. The Argonne Forest area is known to geologists as Mount Forest Island, an area which, during the Last Glacial Period, formed a triangular island 6 miles (9.7 km) long and 4 miles (6.4 km) wide, rising 80 to 120 feet (24 to 37 m) above the waters of the surrounding ice-age Lake Chicago.The Palos Preserves feature the Palos Trail System, the forest district's largest multi-trail system. The system comprises some 40 miles of unpaved trails, connected to each other by many intersections. The longest trail, "Yellow Unpaved" is 9.2 miles long, while "Brown Unpaved" is the shortest, at 1.1 miles. Trails are made for hiking, bicycle riding, horseback riding, and, in the winter, even skiing. There are sixteen entrances to the system which, along with the preserves as a whole, are open from dawn to dusk each day.The 6,600-acre Mount Forest Island area was, in 2021, designated an Urban Night Sky Place by the International Dark-Sky Association. It is the largest such Urban Night Sky Place designation in the world.Communities adjoining the preserves are Palos Hills, Palos Park, and Hickory Hills.

Illinois's 3rd congressional district includes parts of Cook County and DuPage County, and has been represented by Democrat Delia Ramirez since January 3, 2023. The district was previously represented by Marie Newman from 2021 to 2023, Dan Lipinski from 2005 to 2021, and by Lipinski's father Bill from 1983 to 2005. The district includes the western and southwestern suburbs of Chicago as far as the DuPage County border, as well as portions of the Southwest Side of the city of Chicago itself, and covers 124.5 square miles (322 km2), making it one of the 50 smallest districts in the U.S., although there are five smaller districts in Illinois. It is adjacent to the 1st district to the east and south, the 4th district to the north, and the 11th district to the west, and also borders the 6th and 7th districts at its northwestern and northeastern corners, respectively. The district was created following the 1830 census and came into being in 1833, five months before Chicago was organized as a town; it initially included northern and western Illinois before representing areas of east-central and northwestern Illinois from 1843 to 1873. The district has included part of Chicago since 1873, and part of the city's southwest side since 1895; the district has been primarily suburban since 1973.

Palos Park is a village in southwestern Cook County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 4,899.

Saganashkee Slough is a 377 acres (153 ha), manmade riparian lake that forms part of the valley of the Cal-Sag Channel. It is located in the Palos Forest Preserves of Cook County, Illinois, on wetland that was drained but was later reverted to a lake starting in 1948-1949 by the construction of dams and levees. Saganashkee Slough, like other segments of the Cal-Sag canal and valley system, drains into the Des Plaines River and ultimately into the Illinois River.

Palos Hills is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a southwest suburb of Chicago. The city was established in 1958 and had reached a population of 18,530 in the 2020 census. It is the home of Moraine Valley Community College as well as Amos Alonzo Stagg High School.

Palos Park is a station on Metra's SouthWest Service in Palos Park, Illinois. The station is 19.8 miles (31.9 km) away from Chicago Union Station, the northern terminus of the line. In Metra's zone-based fare system, Palos Park is in zone E. As of 2018, Palos Park is the 112th busiest of Metra's 236 non-downtown stations, with an average of 424 weekday boardings.As of January 16, 2023, Palos Park is served by all 30 trains (15 in each direction) on weekdays. Saturday service is currently suspended.

Courtright's was a Michelin-starred restaurant in Willow Springs, in the U.S. state of Illinois.

The Willowbrook Ballroom was a dance ballroom and banquet facility located in Willow Springs, Illinois along Archer Avenue. It was founded in 1921 by John Verderbar and named Oh Henry Park. The Willowbrook Ballroom is often cited as the last place Resurrection Mary danced before her death. Her ghost is said to appear at the ballroom at times, dancing with the patrons.On Friday October 28, 2016 the Ballroom was gutted by a fire. The building was having work done on the roof where the fire was suspected of starting. Due to water pressure issues the fire department had to wait on tanker trucks, which caused a delay in getting the fire under control.

Hickory Hills is a city in Cook County, Illinois. Located principally in Palos Township, it is a suburb of Chicago. The population in 2020 was 14,505.