All Ecology

Once a private duck-hunting club, the 2,247-acre Anderson Lake and adjacent 230-acre Carlson Lake were purchased by the state in 1947 and put under the auspices of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. These lakes are floodplain lakes, receiving overflow from the nearby Illinois River during flood periods. The complex is known for its waterfowl population, primarily Mallard and Wood Read more...

Big Creek Park features a pool with a capacity to hold 400 bathers, a water slide, pool side furniture with umbrella’s and a concession stand. Other features of this park include a recreation center for teens and seniors, frisbee golf course, dog park, skate park, walking/biking paths, playgrounds, pavilion, lighted tennis court, basketball hoops and a baseball diamond. Read more...

So named because (legend has it) the area once served as a “blind canyon” where Indians ran buffalo for capture, this 298-acre park has long been a natural favorite. Much of Buffalo Rock State Park is set high atop sandstone bluff carved by the young Illinois River just after the end of the Pleistocene epoch. Two park trails, the River Read more...

Camp Wokanda, acquired from W.D. Boyce Council of the Boy Scouts of America, offers a beautiful 316-acre woodland setting, including a lake for fishing. The camp, with dining hall, sleeping cabins, program buildings and tent camping, offers a variety of naturalist tours, environmental education, and rental options to groups interested in a secluded, close-to-nature gathering. Located just 20 minutes from Read more...

Acquired in 1970 by the LaSalle County Conservation District, the 333-acre Catlin Park (open May-October) is a mix of bluff land oak-hickory forest, chinquapin oak savanna, maple-basswood dominated steep ravines, and tallgrass prairie habitats. Cottonwood, sycamore, and hackberry dominate the bottomland forests. Ash, basswood, and black cherry dot the landscape. These trees produce a cornucopia of nuts and fruits; provide Read more...

Owned and operated by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, this 4,480-acre site contains elements of several habitats: Oak-hickory forest, riparian forest, floodplain shrub, marsh, and open lake. Note the prairie plant display garden at the refuge headquarters. Although known primarily for its waterfowl, Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge also attracts numerous other bird groups into its forests, marshes, and lakes. Read more...

Peoria Park District’s 740-acre Detweiller Park is a popular multi-use destination for folks who enjoy golfing, soccer, volleyball, hiking, birding, fishing, and boating. Detweiller Drive, which runs through much of the park, features one of the finest, most diverse collections of oaks; and the early spring show of blooming redbuds should not be missed. The fall foliage of the oaks, Read more...

One of the major on-site archeological museums in the country, Dickson Mounds Museum also interprets the ecology of the Illinois River’s Emiquon region. The site itself lies where two major ecosystems meet: The Upper Mississippi River-Illinois River Bottomlands, and the Western Forest-Prairie complex. Turning onto the museum’s entry road, it’s easy to visualize this natural division, with the bottomlands situated Read more...

This 459-acre site is comprised of oak-hickory forest and open shrubland. Running Deer Trail, an extensive hiking/mountain biking/cross country trail, runs through the park, crossing several cobble-bottomed brooks and creeks. In 2003, Dirksen Park along with McNaughton Park, were entered into the Illinois Land and Water Reserve Program, designed to protect and improve woodland habitats using restoration management techniques. Dirksen Read more...

The Donnelley/DePue State Fish and Wildlife Areas complex, home to a $1 million State Duck Stamp Project, is managed primarily for migratory waterfowl. Frank C. Bellerose, world-renown waterfowl expert, has designated this area. Read more...

Measuring nearly 600 acres in size, Canton’s Lakeland Park is a prime example of the possibilities involved in restoring ecological integrity to strip mining sites. Much of the park’s terrain is tallgrass prairie habitat. In those sections which have been allowed to restore themselves, grassland birds such as meadowlark, sparrows, Red-winged Blackbirds, American Woodcock, Bobolink, and others frolic in the Read more...

Established in the late 19th century, the 140-acre Bradley Park is the centerpiece of Peoria’s University District. Operated by the Peoria Park District, this large park, located adjacent to Bradley University, traverses a high bluff woodland that grades down into the floodplain of Dry Run Creek. Along with numerous picnic sites, the park also features a beautiful Japanese bridge over Read more...

Designed by the legendary gardener Oscar F. Dubuis and dedicated in 1896, Glen Oak Park is the focal point of northeastern Peoria and home to the Peoria Park District headquarters. Today, the park hosts daily visitors to its Glen Oak Zoo, Luthy Botanical Garden and various special events. Visitors can take advantage of the hiking/biking trail, fishing lagoon, fitness trail, Read more...

Initiated in 1925, the Marshall State Fish & Wildlife Area presently includes about 6,000 acres spread over 3 different units along 10 miles of Illinois River shoreline. All three sites are worth a stop if touring the river for spring and fall migrations of waterfowl or shorebirds and wintering eagles. At 3,000 acres, the Marshall Unit is the largest, and Read more...

Owned and operated by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, this 240-acre site is dedicated to raising native tree, shrub, grass, and wildflower stock to be used in both public and private habitat restoration projects. The majority of annual nursery stock distribution here goes to private Illinois landowners who possess management plans approved by their district forester, wildlife biologist, or Read more...

Donated to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources by the F.W. Matthiessen family in 1943, Matthiessen State Park is comprised of nearly 2,000 acres of prairies, bluff and deep ravine forests, as well as sandstone canyons (called “dells” by Matthiessen) cut by the still-rushing Vermilion River. The ground water which percolates through the sandstone has rendered completely natural “mineral paintings” Read more...

Approaching 900 acres in size, Mautino State Fish & Wildlife Area is comprised of a restored strip mine which has attracted a vibrant community of plants and animals to its forests, lakes, and grasslands. Over a dozen lakes ranging in size from 0.5-15.5 acres dot the landscape. Dragonfly enthusiasts should check the sedges, rushes, cattails, and other emergent aquatic vegetation Read more...

This 200-acre rare prairie type was donated to the Natural Resources Conservation Service Bureau County District by Mr. and Mrs. J.D. McCune (120-acres) and the University of Illinois (80-acres). Due to the exceptionally sandy soil composition, sand prairies are exceedingly well-drained and are therefore even drier than typical Midwestern tallgrass prairies. However, the northern portion of this site supports tree Read more...

McNaughton Park’s 850 acres contain some of the most impressive specimens of white oak in the entire Illinois River Valley. This mix of oak savanna and old growth forests is also a great spot for songbirds, butterflies, and wildflowers. Common birds, like Eastern Bluebird and American Goldfinch are often seen as well as some of the less common species, like Read more...

Dedicated in 1969, the 340-acre Miller-Anderson Nature Preserve contains a variety of natural communities, dominated by old-growth oak-hickory bluff forests and maple-basswood ravines. Other communities present include sedge meadow, seep spring (floating bog), and hill prairie. Notable plant species include showy orchid, queen-of-the-prairie, and Schreber’s aster. The seep areas are characterized by large accumulations of peat (decomposed mosses), which support Read more...

Mitchell’s Grove Nature Preserve is a 184-acre wooded site donated to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources in 1998 by William H. and Irene Mitchell. The Mitchell family’s conservation ethic has protected this unusual area since its purchase in 1879. From a geologic standpoint, Mitchell’s Grove was right in the middle of heavy glacial action, especially during the last (Wisconsin) Read more...

Jubilee College State Park is a 3,200-acre facility situated in the Illinoisan drift-plan, replete with rolling topography and the meandering Jubilee Creek. Visitors may see deer, rabbits, squirrel, fox, coyote and raccoon throughout the forests, while the creek may offer glimpses of mink, muskrat and beaver or one of over 160 species of birds. With a large restored prairie, Dickcissel, Read more...

Named after Jacob John Wolf, 7-term Illinois General Assembly member and past Deputy Director of the Department of Conservation, this unique facility is comprised of a 36,000-square-foot hatchery building, 56 indoor rearing tanks, 41 outdoor raceways, 12 rearing ponds, and a 22-acre solar-heating pond. The hatchery’s Visitor’s Center contains several observational overlooks, an antique fishing tackle exhibit featuring over 200 Read more...

Once used as a proving ground for Caterpillar Inc., this 340-acre site is a model for ecological restoration. Plantings of trees, prairie grasses and forbs are maturing beautifully. One positive indicator of ecological progress is the presence of breeding Acadian Flycatcher, a neotropical songbird that prefers a closed-canopy forests. The nature trail at Independence Park is a great place for Read more...

Located at the Starved Rock Lock & Dam, the Illinois Waterway Visitors Center is owned and operated by the US Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps maintains the lock and dam system along the entire Illinois Waterway from Lake Michigan to Grafton, IL where the Illinois River empties into the Mississippi River. The water system conducts river traffic along 333 Read more...

Located across the Illinois River from the town of Marseilles, the 510-acre Illini State Park lies along the northern edge of the “Great Falls” of the river, where a drop in streambed gradient creates beautiful roaring rapids. The park itself sits atop an old glacial moraine (elongated ridge-type hill bulldozed up by an advancing Pleistocene glacier) and features a dense Read more...

Bordered by the east bank of the Illinois River this linear park possesses an ample walking trail shaded by the park’s large riparian trees. On the park’s bluff (at the terminus of Main Street) is an observation deck and raised boardwalk nestled in a grove of American elm, red maple, mulberry, northern catalpa, and black locust trees. Havana’s Riverfront Park Read more...

This conservation district is composed of 5 parcels of wild-land each offering something different for bird watchers. The “home site” is a 270-acre tract called the Natural Lands Area, which also houses the district’s headquarters and offers primitive camping, picnic shelters, hiking and equestrian trails, and cross country skiing through oak-hickory forests and restored tallgrass prairie. Be on the lookout Read more...

Located just 1 ½ miles north of Princeton on Route 26 is the Red Covered Bridge, built in 1863 and later rehabilitated in 1973. It is one of only five remaining covered bridges in Illinois and still open to traffic. It crosses Big Bureau Creek and was once part of the Peoria-Galena Trail. It was built to serve highway traffic Read more...

An officially designated Important Birding Area, this complex of wetlands is composed of 5,660 acres with shallow floodplain lakes and bottomland forest habitats. Spring and fall shore birds, great flocks of waterfowl, nesting herons and osprey are all frequently seen. The forested areas, with mature stands of American elm, silver maple, cottonwood, and black willow, are a flitter with passerines Read more...

Planned to run from East Peoria to Morton, phase I of this 10-foot wide hard-surfaced hiking/biking trail was completed in 1991, running 4.8 miles north and east out of East Peoria along the old Illinois Terminal Railway line. The trail offers an educational introduction to both tallgrass prairie and bluffland forest habitats common to the Illinois River Valley. Perhaps the Read more...