Agencies
Services
Nature Preserve Area
3
County
Iroquois
Location And Access
From St. Anne, take Highway 1 south two miles, then turn and go east 9 miles to Iroquois County State Wildlife Area parking lot. The nature preserve is just northwest of the parking lot. Special Note: A hiking trail has been established and picnicking facilities are available adjacent to the parking area.
Description
Hooper Branch Savanna is a large sand savanna representative of the Kankakee Sand Area Section of the Grand Prairie Natural Division. It is situated at the edge of former Glacial Lake Watseka formed about 14,000 to 15,000 years ago during the Kankakee Torrent. The area consists of dune and swale topography, some dunes reaching 695 feet in height. Five biotic communities are found in the nature preserve: dry sand savanna, dry-mesic sand savanna, shrub prairie/mesic sand prairie, pin oak flatwoods and successional fields. Notable plant species include Eastern blue-eyed grass, bristly blackberry, primrose violet, false foxglove, scarlet oak, wild lupine, crested fern, black chokeberry and winterberry holly. Notable animals present include red squirrel, six-lined racerunner, red-headed woodpecker and plains pocket gopher.
Ownership
Illinois Department of Natural Resources
Dedicated
June 1986
Size
562 acres with buffer
Topographic Quad
Donovan
Topo Map
For Further Information
Illinois Nature Preserves Commission
One Natural Resources Way
Springfield, IL 62702
217-785-8686
or
Site Superintendent, Iroquois County Wildlife Area
Beaverville, IL 60912
815-435-2218