Goose Lake Prairie State Natural Area

Goose Lake Prairie State Natural Area

Parks Directory of the United States / State Parks / Illinois

Location: Northeast Illinois, in Grundy County, 50 miles southwest of Chicago and 1 mile southwest of the confluence of the Kankakee and Des Plaines rivers.
Facilities: Picnic areas, restrooms, hiking trails (7 miles), visitor center. A boat launch and boat rental concession is available at Heidecke Lake, a 2,000-acre cooling pond that lies adjacent to Goose Lake Prairie.
Activities: Hiking, picnicking, interpretive programs; fishing and hunting at Heidecke Lake.
Special Features: At one time more than half of the state of Illinois was covered with prairie, which is how it earned the nickname "the Prairie State." Today, the 2,500-acre Goose Lake Prairie is the largest remnant of prairie left in Illinois. Goose Lake itself was drained by settlers in 1890 in order to gain more farmland, leaving only the ponds and marshes that remain at the site today. Most of the prairie is now made up of tall prairie grasses, and the rest consists of broad-leaved flowering plants known collectively as forbs.
Address: 5010 N Jugtown Rd
Morris, IL 60450
Phone: 815-942-2899;
Web: dnr.state.il.us/Lands/Landmgt/PARKS/I&M/EAST/GOOSE/HOME.HTM
Size: 2,537 acres.

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See other parks in Illinois.