Summer 2000

"One of the most unusual places" in Illinois features prairie, savanna, and wetland — resulting in diverse flora and fauna

Lake County, Illinois

Spring Bluff Nature Preserve is the perfect answer to nature lovers who want to see it all but on any given day can’t decide whether to visit a wetland, prairie, or black oak savanna.

Volunteer steward Patty Kelley Smith describes Spring Bluff as "one of the most unusual places in the state." What makes it unusual is the diversity of habitats – four communities of prairie (mesic, dry-mesic sand, mesic sand, wet sand), savanna and wetland – within a 274-acre area.

The preserve’s topography consists primarily of dune-and-swale similar to that of adjacent Illinois Beach State Park. As continental glaciers receded roughly 12,000 years ago, moraines formed along the Lake Michigan shoreline that indicate the highest water levels during the glacial recession. Water level fluctuation has resulted in a series of beach ridges with wet swales in between the ridges. The oldest of these ridges is approximately 3,500 years old and is located near the Illinois-Wisconsin border. The youngest, about 80 years old, is located at the southernmost end of Illinois Beach Nature Preserve.

In the 1800s pioneer developers had purchased 120 acres of low-priced, undeveloped land, which they divided into 1,828 lots and sold at the Columbian Exposition. However, only 12 homes were constructed, and most of the lots became the property of Lake County when owners defaulted on real estate taxes. Lake County Forest Preserves initiated purchase of Spring Bluff property in 1963, and in 1982 began extensive restoration by removing alien trees and planting native vegetation at the former developed sites.

Patty says the reason she loves to volunteer at Spring Bluff is because of the opportunity it affords for educating others about different habitats. One source of helping hands for restoration work is Patty’s husband, Tom Smith, Conservation Volunteer Coordinator in the Education Department for the Lake County Forest Preserves. In 1999, more than 1,600 volunteers logged more than 12,000 hours removing buckthorn, honeysuckle, grapevine, purple loosestrife, and garlic mustard throughout the preserves. At Spring Bluff, in addition to clearing invasive vegetation, volunteers from the Boy Scouts and the Youth Conservation Corps put up boxes for owls, kestrels, bats, and bluebirds.

Because of the diverse habitat, visitors will enjoy a spectrum of fauna and vegetation not found within the confines of other single nature preserves. Bluebirds and kestrels are common. Notable breeding species of wildlife include kingfisher, woodcock, Henslow’s sparrow, king rail, upland sandpiper, common snipe, least bittern, American bittern, and Virginia rail.

For a tour of Spring Bluff Nature Preserve, call Tom Smith at (847) 968-3329 and either he or Patty will be glad to share this special site with visitors. Visitors may walk unescorted almost the full length of the preserve, south to north, about a half mile, on a closed asphalt road. "Even from the asphalt path you’re likely to see black-crowned night herons, green herons, and marsh wrens," Patty says. "It’s like walking into a different world." But Patty suggests that visitors should let her, or Tom, or someone else familiar with the area, accompany them if they wish to enter the preserve. "It’s not exactly a jungle walk, but it could pull a lot of surprises on someone not familiar with it. You could fall in a marsh or get lost." She also advises to take precautions for ticks.

— Jean Pascual