Name This Peoria Landmark

Peoria Landmark #337

Approximately 45 minutes (by car) south of Peoria you will find Smokey The Bear and Sand Ridge State Park. Nearby attractions are Spring Lake and Lake Chautauqua.

For those who think central Illinois is one big corn field, Sand Ridge State Forest will come as a very pleasant surprise. The forest is an island in a sea of agriculture. Just minutes southwest of Peoria, this 7,200-acre, the largest of Illinois’ State Forests, boasts sweeping expanses of native oak-hickory, extensive plantations of pine, sprawling open fields, grasslands, and completely unique sand prairies. For a refreshing, invigorating taste of unspoiled nature and an opportunity to experience truly unique environment, Sand Ridge State Forest is ideal.

[...]

Fifteen thousand years ago the flood waters of the last glaciation period receded down the Illinois River valley leaving a vast deposit of sand near Pekin to down past Beardstown and as far west as San Jose. A subsequent period of extreme dryness and warmth invited plants and animals of the southwestern states to extend their range. Shifting winds sculpted 100 foot high sand dunes evident today as the now wooded ridges for which the forest is named.

In 1939, 5504 acres of this forested tract was purchased by the state to be managed by the Division of Forestry as an experimental forest. The Civilian Conservation Corps planted pine trees to control erosion and demonstrate the viability of growing a commercial tree crop in sandy soil. The current 2492 acres of pine plantations are still producing sawlog-size timber for Illinois’ future needs. The native oak-hickory forest is selectively utilized for a firewood cutting program. There are special times throughout the year when firewood collection is allowed.

In 1971, the Division of Land Management took over management of the site and the area became known as Sand Ridge State Forest. Today, the forest covers 7500 acres — 3996 acres of native oak-hickory forest, 2492 acres of pine, and the rest in open fields and sand prairies.

- http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/landmgt/parks/r4/sand.htm

The PBS show Illinois Adventure featured Sand Ridge in one of its episodes. The video is available to watch {here}. An interesting tidbit I learned from the video is there are cactus in the park. I’ve been there twice and haven’t seen any, but I’m going to keep my eyes open next time I’m there.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 3:02 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.