Winter 2000

Preserve features popular Paul Wolff Campground

Kane County, Illinois

Curse a Windy City winter all you want. Venture forth into the wild this time of year and you'll thank goodness you live in Chicago Wilderness. With autumn leaves long gone and spring flora nowhere in sight, the golden grasslands at Burnidge Forest Preserve churn like a storm on the high sea — even if it is the dead of winter.

Turning off Big Timber Road in Elgin, I enter Burnidge, the largest forest preserve in Kane County. Soon I'm smacked in the eye with royal blue water wrapped in the bronzy open roll of classic Midwestern prairie. Traversing a wood-planked bridge along a 12-mile tangle of mowed grass hedges, my imagination wanders. I find myself in the midst of a grassy impressionistic vignette, a mosaic composed of many pin-thick stalks. A patch of blonde Indian grass beams as bright as the silky hair of tow-headed child. A light rusty swath of big bluestem fades away into the horizon. While an entire hill of prairie dropseed seizes up like a giant wave on the open water, great clumps of prairie grass come flushing down, one after another, as though the wind were conducting its own earthy concerto — all heard in the soft speak of whisper.

Also tucked away within Burnidge's 500 acres is the Paul Wolff Campground, one of only three camping areas in the Kane County forest preserves and clearly the most popular. (The others are Bliss Woods and Buffalo Park.) In the western section, you'll find 48 trailer sites complete with electricity and water. In the eastern section, way off in woods, are 19 sites for campers yearning to get further away from civilization. Before leaving Burnidge, I make a solemn vow to return come spring toting a tent, sleeping bag, and every camera lens I own. Camping is permitted from May 1­Oct 31; advance reservations can be made by calling (847) 695-8410. Rates range from $5 for primitive sites to $10 for luxe.

In 1991, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Kane-DuPage Soil District made a joint agreement to develop wetland habitat here. As agricultural field tiles were removed and entire areas re-seeded, a series of watersheds now filter into Tyler Creek and two wetland acres have grown into almost 20. Prescribed burns are scheduled every other year and interpretive programs are orchestrated by Valerie DePrez on a regular basis. For further information about programs and volunteer opportunities, call (847) 741-9924.

— Christopher Percy Collier