Where to see prairies
A useful guide to officially dedicated Illinois Nature Preserves is available online at <http://dnr.state.il.us/INPC/NPdir.htm>. For each preserve there is a brief description, directions, and a location map. NOTE: the server can be slow at times so be patient.
Although the majority of original prairies in Illinois have been destroyed, there are still a number of areas where people can see prairies. Some are former pioneer cemeteries that were laid out on the original prairie. Many of these are part of the system of Illinois Nature Preserves. Information on these can be obtained from:
Illinois Nature Preserves Commission
600 North Grand Avenue West
Springfield, IL 62706
Some of the author's favorite natural prairies are:
- Anderson Prairie Park (Christian County)
- Ayres Sand Prairie (Carroll County)
- Belmont Prairie (DuPage County)
- Bluff Springs Fen (Cook County)
- Bonnie's Prairie (Iroquois County). View One; View Two
- Braidwood Dunes &
Savanna (Will County)
- Denby Prairie (Macoupin County)
- Desoto Prairie (Jackson County)
- Foley Sand Prairie (Lee County) -- One View; Another View of Foley
- Freeport Prairie (Stephenson County)
- Fults Hill Prairie (Monroe County)
- Gensburg-Markham Prairie (Cook County)
- Goose Lake Prairie (Grundy County)
- Hanover Bluff Hill Prairies(Jo Daviess County)
- Harlem Hills Prairie (Winnebago County)
- Henry Alan Gleason (Mason County)
- Hooper Branch Savanna (Iroquois County)
- Illinois Beach State
Park (Lake County)
- The James Woodworth Prairie in Glenview, Illinois, is 5 acre remnant of a black soil tall-grass prairie owned and managed by The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).
- Lake-In-The-Hills Fen (McHenry County); see also Chicago Wilderness Magazine
- Loda Cemetery Prairie (Iroquois County)
- Loda in mid-summer
- Loda in fall with rigid goldenrod (photo taken with Kodak DC-40 digital camera)
- A similar view taken with a normal 35mm camera using slide film
- Another view of Loda
- Another view of Loda
- Loda in mid-summer
- Lockport Prairie (Will County); and from Chicago Wilderness Magazine
- Long Run Seep (Will County)
- Manito Prairie (Tazewell County)
- Nachusa Grassland (Lee
County)
- Prospect Cemetery Prairie (Ford County) -- View One; View Two; View Three; View Four ; Prescribed Burn
- Revis Hill Prairie
(Mason County) -- from Illinois Dept. Natural Resources
- Roberts Cemetery Savanna (Montgomery County)
- Robinson Park Hill Prairies (Peoria County)
- Sand Prairie-Scrub Oak (Mason County)
- Searls Park Prairie (Winnebago County)
- Shoefactory Road Prairie (Cook County)
- Site M or Jim Edgar Panther Creek State Fish & Wildlife Area (Cass County).
- Thomson-Fulton Sand Prairie (Whiteside County)
- Tomlinson Pioneer Cemetery Prairie (Champaign County) -- View One ; View Two
- Twelve Mile Prairie (Effingham, Fayette, and Marion Cos.)
- Wells Cemetery Prairie (Champaign County) -- View One ; View Two
- Weston Cemetery Prairie (McLean County) in spring and in summer
- Wolf Road Prairie (Cook County).
Because of the rarity of natural prairies, a number of prairie restorations and reconstructions have been developed in Illinois. A few of these are given below:
- Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe, Illinois
- College of
DuPage, Glen Ellyn (DuPage County)
- FermiLab, Batavia (DuPage County)
- Forest Glen County
Conservation Area, Westville (Vermilion County)
- Funks Grove, SW of Bloomington (McLean County)
- Goose Lake Prairie, Morris (Grundy County); and from IL DNR
- Meadowbrook Park, Urbana (Champaign County)
- The Morton Arboretum Schulenberg Prairie, Lisle, Illinois (DuPage County)
- Peck Farm Park in Geneva, Illinois has an ongoing prairie restoration.
- Rexroat Prairie, Virginia (Cass County)
- Rock Springs Prairie, Decatur (Macon County)
- Weldon Springs State Park (DeWitt County).
Miscellaneous
- Grand Prairie Friends sign
- Nothing like a nice prairie fire!
- Prairie fires are even more spectacular at night!
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