Agencies
Services
Nature Preserve Area
5
County
Mason
Location And Access
From Highway 10 in Easton, take a county road south at the southwest edge of town. This road curves west at the edge of Easton. Follow the county road west 0.5 mile to another county road (Kilbourne-Easton blacktop). Turn south on this road and go 2 miles. The preserve is on the west side of the road. Special Note: Tomlin Timber is a privately owned nature preserve. Entrance is by permission only.
Description
Tomlin Timber contains eighteen acres of high quality dry sand forest. This type of forest exists due to the unique conditions left by glacial meltwaters. As tremendous volumes of water reached the wide open floodplain near Hennepin, the water lost its velocity and deposited huge quantities of sand and gravel. When the floodwaters retreated, the dried sand was blown about, creating dunes and large sections of sandy deposits. Here, in this desert-like environment, the sand forest communities became established. They once extended throughout the Illinois River Sand Section of the Illinois and Mississippi River Sand Areas Natural Division. Typically, the trees of a sand forest are generally slow growing, and display a poorly developed form. The 18-acre area was purchased by the Tomlin family in 1912, but it appears that very few vegetative changes have occurred over the past 164 years. Black oak, mockernut hickory and black hickory are the predominant trees.
Ownership
Save the Prairie Society
Dedicated
August 1987
Size
19.6 acres
Topographic Quad
Easton
Topo Map
For Further Information
Save the Prairie Society, 11225 Constitution Dr., Westchester, Illinois 60154 (www.savetheprairiesociety.org) OR Illinois Nature Preserves Commission, One Natural Resources Way, Springfield, Illinois 62702-1271 (217-785-8686