Payton's Hill

DETAILS:

• Location: 3800 N Kennicott Ave, Arlington Heights, IL 60004 (on the site of Nickol Knoll Golf Club & Park)

• Hours of Operation: Sunrise to Sunset.

• Parking: Free parking on site.

• Cost: Free!

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes.

• MISC:

  • Please note that the front of the former hill is located on a golf course. So please ask for permission from the front desk before proceeding.

  • The backside of the former hill is located within the park and is free to visit. It can be found along the walking loop that surrounds the park.

This location, my friends, holds a very special place in my heart. If you’re a Chicago Bears fan, a football fan, or just a fan of good people, the name “Walter Payton” is the standard by which all others are measured against. Look, no one amongst us is infallible and I learned long ago to not put any athlete on a pedestal because we’re all human with both good parts and bad, but if anyone ever came close to being the exception to that rule, it was Walter (with full acknowledgment and pride in my homer-ism by saying so). As great as “Sweetness” was on the field, he was widely remembered for being just as great a person away from it.

To ascend (literally) to the lofty football standards that he set for the game and himself, Walter was famously known to endure a grueling training regime to prepare his body for the rigors of each season. This program was highlighted by a conditioning routine that featured sprints up a steep landfill (about 60 yards long at a 45 degree angle) in Arlington Heights, IL, that Walter affectionally referred to as “The Widow-Maker”.

Today, what remains of that hill has been mostly leveled to make room for a golf course on the front side of the former hill and a neighborhood park on the backside. On the day I visited, the golf employee behind the front desk was kind enough to let me walk the grounds to the front side of the hill where a commemorative “34” (Walter’s jersey #) designates the site of “Payton’s Hill”. I imagine they must get plenty of these requests from men and women of a certain age such as myself who all make the pilgrimage to get a little closer to Walter. The backside of the former hill is free to get to and is part of the walking loop that surrounds the park and is home to a great lookout point and plaque dedicated to Walter. If you’re anything like me, you’ll be inclined to take a few sprints up the hill to honor Walter’s legacy. It’s nowhere near as steep as The Widow-Maker, but I’m sure Walter would respect the effort all the same.