700 fragrant lilac trees and 35,000 tulip blooms every spring define Lilacia Park in Lombard. The park has been the regular venue for the annual Lilac Time Festival since 1930. Here, a recurring festival and a distinctive garden come together—a specific starting point if you’d like to get to know Lombard through its garden culture.
Lilacs, a Festival, and a Garden
Lilacia Park includes a butterfly garden, a pond, and a 0.6-mile walking path. These features complement the lilac and tulip blooms with a variety of experiences: you can appreciate the park as a garden or enjoy the walking path as a way to get around on foot. The descriptions of the blooms refer to different plants and seasons: tulips appear each spring, while the 700 lilac trees define the park.
The history of horticulture is also part of the park’s character. Its contribution to American horticultural history earned it a listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Those interested in Lombard will find not only a distinctive garden attraction here, but also a tangible connection to the history of garden design.
Local History and Historic Buildings
The Sheldon Peck Homestead is the oldest house in Lombard. It is also recognized by the National Park Service as part of the Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. These two aspects give the house different kinds of historical significance: its age connects it to the development of the community, while its recognition places it within a broader historical context.
The Lombard Historical Society makes the Lombard Historical Museum open to the public. The Carriage House features a permanent exhibition on Lombard’s history and a gift shop. A tour of the Victorian Cottage explores what Lombard looked like around the turn of the 20th century. The museum, exhibition, and tour each have a different focus: local history in the permanent exhibition and Lombard’s historic appearance on the Cottage tour.
Maple Street Chapel can also be identified by its distinctive architectural features: it has American Gothic board-and-batten siding and grisaille stained-glass windows. If you choose historic sites not only by their age but also by their design, the chapel offers a different perspective from the oldest house or the local history exhibition.
Water Attractions and Regional Trails
Paradise Bay Water Park offers a leisure pool with zero-depth entry, water slides, a diving pool, and an eight-lane lap pool. The options range from slides and a leisure pool to a pool with lanes. Swimming lessons and water aerobics classes are also offered. Turtle Cove is a zero-depth entry pool intended for toddlers and families with children under 48 inches tall. This age and height information applies to Turtle Cove, not to all of the water park’s attractions.
Two major regional trails run through Lombard near downtown and are suitable for walking and cycling. They add another way to get around on foot or by bike to the garden, cultural, and water attractions described above. You can distinguish the options clearly: find horticulture and festival history at Lilacia Park, historic buildings and local history at the cultural sites mentioned, swimming at Paradise Bay Water Park, and outdoor activity on the regional trails.
Discover more destinations: Addison, Lisle, Medinah, Glen Ellyn, Downers Grove, Naperville, Wood Dale, Carol Stream
For the main travel overview: Dupage.
