Fall 1997

Trails for walking, cycling, and horseback riding take you through a lush preserve that's home to over 700 native plants

DuPage County, Illinois

Two centuries ago, DuPage County was covered mostly by prairie. But the diverse landscape known by both the Potawatomi and the first Euro-Americans included many woodlands and savannas, much of which have been preserved at the DuPage County Forest Preserve District’s Waterfall Glen, situated on the Valparaiso moraine adjoining Argonne National Laboratory.

On this 2,500 acre site, managed by the Forest Preserve District since the land was ceded to the county by the federal government in 1971, visitors can take in views of a landscape that ranges from dry prairie to oak barrens and other uplands that slope down toward the Des Plaines River. Several streams on the premises cut through a bluff savanna, emptying into the Des Plaines Valley. Springs occur at the base of the bluff, which ends in a sheer dolomite cliff at one end. Kettle hole ponds and ravines are scattered throughout the area and DuPage County’s only artesian well empties into quarry lakes in the southwest part of the site.

In all, over 700 native plants, about three-quarters of all flora native to DuPage County, can be found at Waterfall Glen. Waterfall Glen’s primary savanna — known as Poverty Savanna due to the abundance of poverty oat grass — supports a medley of 418 native species. Black and white oaks and bitternut and shagbark hickories dominate the barrens and bluffs.

Waterfall Glen also provides habitat for 197 animal species. It is a nesting area for hawks, owls, and turkey vultures, as well as home to a number of different species of interior forest birds.

The DuPage County Forest Preserve District maintains 9.5 miles of groomed trails at Waterfall Glen, as well as several smaller loop trails and picnic areas. Visitors may explore the vast preserve on foot, bicycle, or horseback from sunrise to sunset daily. During the winter, the trails are groomed for cross country skiing when conditions permit. Though the terrain on some trails is rather rugged, winding up and down bluffs and twisting in and out of ravines, it offers a glimpse of the unrivaled variety of native species that have been preserved here.

Parking is available at a trailhead off Cass and Northgate Roads, and at a second entrance on Bluff Road which provides the best access to the waterfall. For more information about Waterfall Glen, call (630) 942-6075.

— M. Kathleen Pratt