Agencies
Services
Nature Preserve Area
5
County
Macon
Location And Access
Exit south off of Interstate 36 at the Niantic exit in Macon County. Take the first road on the west and travel two miles to the stop sign. Turn left at this location and travel south about 0.1 mile to the nature preserve.
Description
This site, an old oxbow of the Sangamon River, is one of the few remaining wetlands in Central Illinois. Like other wetlands, this area is characterized by several well defined plant communities characterized by trees, shrubs, emergent plants or plants with floating leaves. Within the forest, silver maple, slippery elm, hackberry and green ask are common while buttonbush and black willows comprise the shrub community. In the emergent plant zone, common cattails, sedges and rushes are abundant while yellow water lilies and spatterdock are the predominant plants in the vegetation zone surrounding the open water in the center of the wetland. Water remains in this site except during extremely dry years. Efforts are being made to restore the lowland forest community which surrounded the wetland prior to European settlement.
Ownership
Illinois Department of Natural Resources
Dedicated
March 1992
Size
120 acres
Topographic Quad
Niantic
Topo Map
For Further Information
Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Natural Heritage Biologist, 301 S. Date Street, Gibson City, Illinois 60936 (217/784-4730)