Winter 2002

A wealth of natural and cultural history combine in this prairie and woodland preserve, crisscrossed by six miles of trails

Lake County, Illinois

If "North & South" brings to mind a Civil War epic, it's time to hike over to Grant Woods Forest Preserve. With 974 acres bisected by Monaville Road, Grant Woods has two entrances and a wealth of natural and cultural history in its soil. Historically, Grant Woods was probably a mixture of wet prairie, mesic prairie, and some oak woodlands.

Hidden amid the gently rolling northern section of the preserve is a low-lying area containing Lake County's only known stand of Kentucky coffee trees. Following the northern loop counterclockwise (from the Grand Avenue parking lot) to the trail crossing Monaville Road, 100 feet or so from the fork in trail and to the right, is the first coffee tree and then a few hundred feet beyond that on the right (west) side of the trail are a few others. There are six in all and they are quite large – about two feet in diameter. The foliage is so high one almost needs binoculars to see it.

Grant Woods' winter residents include deer, opossum, skunk, raccoon, fox, junco, woodpeckers (hairy, downy, and red-headed), kestrel, red-tailed hawk, great horned owl, and the occasional roaming coyote. A pair of coyotes raised pups on the north side of Monaville a few years ago. "We would frequently see scat on the trail south of the road," says site steward Joyce Proper. "We still see scat on occasion, but not as often as we used to."

Looking at the flat southern site, with its tallgrass prairie and unusual clusters of quaking aspens, cottonwoods, and oaks, one is likely to miss the high quality Gavin Prairie and tamarack-laden Gavin Bog. The 22-acre mesic prairie and 20-acre bog are dedicated Illinois nature preserves. There are no public trails to these sensitive areas. "The actual high quality remnant is 6.5 acres of wet mesic prairie," Proper notes. "We have 10 species of endangered plants in the preserve with five other species being reported in the past five years that have not been seen again, including rusty cottongrass, leatherleaf, huckleberry, and small cranberry."

"We have done some buckthorn control in Gavin bog," says Jim Anderson, natural resource manager for the Lake County Forest Preserves. "And we are in the process of monitoring the hydrology. Indian grass is another challenge. It is starting to invade the prairie. On the very southwest portion, we have cleared brush and other woody invasives from 70 acres of oak woodlands and we recently encountered a rare central newt (a subspecies of the eastern newt)."

On the third Saturday of each month, volunteers meet in the southern half of Grant Woods at the first parking lot off of Monaville Road for work days from 9 a.m. - noon. Winter work days focus on removing aggressive, nonnative
buckthorn and honeysuckle, while other seasons offer different challenges. Contact Stewardship Volunteer Coordinator Tom Smith at (847) 968-3329 for additional information.

Cross-country skiers, cyclists, hikers, and pets on leashes will revel in the scenic six-mile trail system, while snowmobilers enjoy a 4.5-mile loop in the northern portion of the preserve. Education programs are available at Grant Woods, too. For a schedule of these offerings, please call (847) 948-7750 and ask for a copy of the Horizons newsletter. Grant Woods is open year-round from 6:30 a.m. - sunset. — April Anderson

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