Into the Wild

Johnson’s Mound
Forest Preserve

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Kane County, IL

The highest point in Kane County is a natural feature. Unlike some of the other landfill high points in the Chicago area, Johnson’s Mound is a kame, which is a glacial hill of gravel and sand. It was deposited 10,000 years ago by a retreating glacier, leaving a 50-foot-high hill in the surrounding rolling prairie landscape. The preserve also includes a savanna restoration, a large grassland, a small fen, and Blackberry Creek.

The only high point for miles around, Johnson’s Mound was a meeting place, notably for an Indian treaty signing. The place is marked by the famous Shabbona Elm tree. Hundreds of years old and named for Chief Shabbona, a Pottawatomie chief, the tree grew to an enormous 36 inches in diameter before Dutch elm disease claimed it in 1972.

Prior to European settlement, this feature was a “bald” prairie kame. Fires driven by the westerly prevailing winds suppressed the growth of most trees. The forest grew as European settlers arrived in the 1840s and suppressed the natural fires. The Johnsons for whom the preserve is named once hosted Abraham Lincoln in their home.

Johnson’s Mound was one of the first three forest preserves in Kane County. The 97-acre parcel containing the kame was first acquired in 1927 and is an Illinois Nature Preserve. Recently, the preserve has grown to 743 acres.

In the newer land areas, restoration projects include the removal of black locust and other invasive species, and the restoration of the savanna. New oaks are planted in the savanna every year in September and the public is invited to help.

The mixed hardwood forest is primarily sugar maple, white ash, slippery elm, and basswood. Bur and white oaks grow on the drier west and southwest slope. The understory includes ironwood, blue ash, and hazelnut. Woodland forbs grow richly and include shooting stars and violet wood sorrel where the canopy opens on the western slopes. Dutchman’s breeches, large white trilliums, and blue cohosh can be found throughout the forest.

The upland forests attract warblers, wrens, and woodpeckers. Tufted titmice and barred owls are year-round residents. Swainson’s hawks nested here as recently as 14 years ago. Winter raptors hunt in the nearby fields. In winter, the road leading to the top of the kame is unplowed and closed to vehicles, making a walk up the road an adventure in animal tracking. Mammals known to live here include coyote, red fox, chipmunk, and white-tailed deer.

A paved road loops around the kame to a stone picnic pavilion at the summit. Other walking paths wind down through the preserve. A cabin is available for small groups. The sledding hill with warming house is very popular on snowy winter days and the quiet woods and fields are ideal for snowshoeing, hiking, birding, and animal tracking. Maple sugaring happens the second weekend in March.

The preserve is open from 8 a.m. to sunset. For more information, call (630) 232-5980.

— Jodi Zamirowski

Related Articles:

Into the Wild: Johnson’s Mound, CW Fall 1999