Tuesday, June 17, 2008 9:51 PM CDT
Explore Illinois' abundant parks and forests
By DAVE SHILEY
Have you visited Illinois lately? Illinois’ natural diversity can provide you with endless opportunities for exploring our natural world. This may sound a little bit like a commercial for Illinois tourism, right? In a way it is, but frankly we Illinois residents are blessed with natural resources that are often bypassed in search of well-known natural destinations, such as the Grand Canyon and the Smoky Mountains.
Given the high price of gasoline, maybe a trip to the Grand Canyon is out of the question for you this summer. I will admit Illinois doesn’t have a “Grand Canyon,” but it does have an Apple River Canyon and Starved Rock State Park in northwestern Illinois that offers visitors a close-to-home look at limestone bluffs and crystal clear water in the Apple River.
In southern Illinois there are also numerous areas where two- to three-hundred-foot bluffs can be viewed and explored. The Garden of the Gods area, located in the Shawnee National Forest and Giant City State Park are two such locations in the southeastern portion of Illinois.
If you want to see a 100 foot waterfall without the trip to Niagara Falls, try visiting Ferne Clyffe State Park in southern Illinois, near Goreville. This state park’s waterfall is intermittent, so it is more spectacular in the spring or fall when the creeks are full of water. While you are there, you can also check out the 150-foot long shelter bluff known as Hawk’s Cave.
Illinois’ nickname “the Prairie State” doesn’t mean much to most residents. Early settlers to Illinois described our state as a “sea of grass with pretty flowers,” because approximately 60 percent of the state was covered with prairie. If you would like to experience Illinois as it once was, then a visit to Goose Lake Prairie should be on your list of things to do this summer. This natural area protects the largest remnant of tall grass prairie in the state of Illinois. Goose Lake Prairie is located south of Joliet and west of Interstate 55.
Another unique area in Illinois is Volo Bog in Lake County. Volo Bog was originally a very deep, 50-acre lake that began filling with vegetation 6,000 years ago. If you visit this natural area, you can see various stages of this succession including regions of floating mats of sphagnum moss, cattails and sedges and tamarack forests. In the summer, you can also see orchids blooming, water birds such as great blue herons and green backed herons. There is also an excellent visitor’s center at this site to help answer your questions and learn more about this unique area of our state.
A trip to Sand Ridge State Forest, just southwest of Peoria, can give you a glimpse at some of the sights of the southwest United States. Prickly pear cactus, silver bladderpod, pocket gophers and coyotes are just a few of the sights of the southwest that you’ll see there. Sand Ridge State Forest is also the largest state forest in Illinois. The 4,000 acres of hardwood forest and 2,500 acres of pine forest have 44 miles of hiking trails, as well as backpacking campsites. This is a great place to experience backpack camping for the first time, or to prepare for a more extensive backpacking trip in another part of the country.
If you would like to find out more about Illinois’ natural opportunities, you could start by exploring the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Web site at http://dnr.state.il.us. If you have any questions related to Illinois’ natural resources call University of Illinois Extension, Coles County at 345-7034.
Dave Shiley is a University of Illinois Extension educator, natural resource management.
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