Rent safe and private dog water parks and swimming pools hosted by locals in Litchfield, Illinois

Ten acres of scenic, secluded, fully fenced pasture and woods with full access to all hiking trails and half acre pond. Be prepared for a good workout with your dog as you explore all the ins and outs of this unique property. One tip we can give you is If you see a path leading somewhere, take it, you never know what you may find at the end of it. Also try to go up top on the hilly property in the beginning of your hike and work your way down to the lower parts as you do the hike. You can see the property and surrounding area better at the higher elevations and get a better feel on how the property is set up. We walk or jog at least five laps of the entire property with our seven australian shepherds every day so we are used to all the challenges the property presents but it will be interesting to see how normal people and dogs handle everything. If you or your dog are faint of heart or not in proper physical condition, we recommend that you reconsider doing the property. You may need more than one hour to go over the whole thing with your dog so bring a snack with you and enjoy it while sitting at the picnic table by the pond. All we ask is that you maintain the cleanliness of the property as it should be spotless with regard to animal waste and trash except for an occasional present from our thoroughbred horse. Also be safe in all that you and your dog do, navigating the property in its entirety can be a bit tricky at times, take proper precautions with tick preventatives for you and your dog, but most of all have some fun with your dog. Our private dog park and hiking trails are patterned after the famous Allerton Park open meadows and hiking trails in Monticello, IL, https://www.alltrails.com/parks/us/illinois/robert-allerton-park/photos, which we must have run hundreds if not thousands of miles on while living and training there for marathons with our three aussies at the time. When we moved to Litchfield ten years ago, we wanted to keep experiencing those Allerton Park nature trails in our own backyard, we even have a butterfly alley at a certain time during the summer just like the famous one at Allerton Park and now we want to share all that with the people of Illinois and Missouri who may not get the chance to do that with their dog off leash the way public parks and trails are set up now. So enjoy and know that with our trusty 33 hp Kubota tractor, we put up every gate, fence post and inch of horse fencing on the property that you see and it is designed to keep all our animals in including very active dogs and livestock. There was nothing here when we first moved in except a few stretches of old rusty fencing which you may still see in some areas covered over by our new fencing. We wanted to keep it there as a reminder of what this property used to be and what we had to do to turn it in to what it is now. One more thing, if you have young puppies or rescue dogs that have never experienced being released off leash in an open area like this, bring them and try it, they will have a great time and they will learn so much and gain confidence in what they are capable of doing physically and mentally. Let them go off leash and just follow them around as they explore the property on their terms. You will see a side of them you never knew they had. A new feature we just added for the winter season is called Winter Sports Bonanza, more information on it can be found here and in the Extras section of this web site. Enjoy your favorite winter sport while your dogs try to keep up with you instead of the other way around. You have a choice of three winter activities to participate in. If you think of any more, let us know. 1. Ice skating on a frozen half acre pond and your dogs can go on it too if they are brave enough. Put your skates on at the picnic table right by the pond. 2. Cross country skiing on a hilly 10 acre property, make sure to walk the property beforehand to see exactly where you want to ski since snow amounts on the ground can vary. 3. Sleigh riding on some of the many hills on the property, not sure how fast you can go on them, have never tried it myself but hook up your dogs to a sled and have them pull you around the 10 acre property if there is enough snow on the ground to do it. All this depends on the weather of course and if you want to do one of these three activities during your visit, please let us know ahead of time and we will let you know right before your visit if the property is in the proper condition to do it in. These winter activities deserve special attention to safety so make sure you are in excellent physical condition and you know what your are doing if you attempt one or more of these activities. This is probably not the place to try cross country skiing, dog sledding or ice skating for the first time.

Situated 2 1/2 miles west of Taylorville IL along IL Rt 104. Large manicured front and side lawn, lots of trees for shade and investigating. Former horse riding arena area between barn and shop building. Includes 3 mature trees and mowed lawn. Arena feeds back into a 3-acre natural hay field. Hay tends to be high in May and September just ahead of mowing and bailing. Plenty of frolic room and Frisbee catch area.

Great country spot /lots of acreage