Agencies
Services
Nature Preserve Area
3
County
Cook
Location And Access
The site is near Palos Heights in southwest Cook County straddling the Chicago Lake Plain and Morainal Sections of the Northeastern Morainal Natural Division of Illinois. It is found in the southern half of Section 32 of Worth Township (Township 37 North, Range 13 East of the Third Principal Meridian). Elizabeth Conkey Woods Nature Preserve is bound by 135th Street on the south, and Central Avenue to the east, with residential development forming the north and west boundaries. Access is provided by two access roads and parking lots, one with an entry along 135th Street and the other along Central Avenue. These parking areas and associated picnic shelters are in the southeastern portion of the property and are excluded from the nature preserve boundaries.
Description
Elizabeth Conkey Woods contains one of the region’s most important archaeological sites, the Huber site, which contains examples of human habitation dating back 10,000 years, including important cultural resources from the Huber Phase, the time of earliest contact between native peoples and European trappers/traders. Additionally, Elizabeth Conkey Woods encompasses mesic woodlands, mesic floodplain forest, and a creek containing seven species identified in the Illinois Wildlife Action Plan. It is connected to an additional 3,500 acres of the Forest Preserve’s lands, including an extensive band of woodlands and forest along the banks of Tinley Creek.
Ownership
Forest Preserve District of Cook County
Dedicated
August 2021
Size
180 acres
Topographic Quad
Palos Park
For Further Information
Forest Preserve District of Cook County, Conservation Department
536 North Harlem Ave
River Forest, IL 60525
708-771-1330