Agencies
Services
Nature Preserve Area
9
County
Union
Location And Access
From the town of Wolf Lake on Highway 3, take Highway 3 north 3 miles to a county road. Turn east on the county road and go 1 1/4 mile to where the road comes to a "T" at the base of the bluff. Turn south on the road and go 1/4 mile. The preserve is south and west of the road.
Description
La Rue Swamp in combination with the adjacent Pine Hills is one of the richest, most biologically diverse areas in Illinois. The Pine Hills/La Rue Swamp area contains 43% of all the plant species known from Illinois. The preserve contains mesic floodplain forest, shrub swamp and pond communities once characteristic of the Mississippi River bottomlands of southern Illinois, but now nearly all cleared and drained. The primary source of the swamps' water is runoff from west - facing wooded slopes and bluffs of the adjacent Pine Hills and from springs along the base of the bluffs. Some of the rare, relic or unusual species that occur in the preserve are golden mouse, green water snake, bluehead shiner, and bantam sunfish. La Rue Swamp has been designated a National Natural Landmark.
Ownership
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale
Dedicated
March 1989
Size
140 acres
Topographic Quad
Wolf Lake
Topo Map
For Further Information
Vice-President for Campus Services, Anthony Hall Rm 214, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901 (618/536-7777)