Agencies
Services
Land and Water Reserve Area
7
County
Jersey
Location
The site is in the southwestern portion of Jersey County, west of Grafton. It is adjacent to the Illinois River in the southwestern part of Pere Marquette State Park.
Description
Brainerd Cave Land and Water Reserve contains Brainerd Cave, an unusual deep maze cave that serves as a hibernaculum for moderate number of bats. It is a fissure that developed in the Edgewood Limestone of Silurian age. It is further described as a “block-creep” cavern created when a massive block of limestone separated from the high bluff above the Illinois River and began slowly sliding down the talus slope. The cavern was formed between the downwardly advancing block and the main limestone massif. Brainerd Cave contains biological and geological resources which have state-wide significance. It is recognized as supporting a Grade A terrestrial cave community by the Illinois Natural Areas Inventory (INAI #605). Of the 300 known caves in Illinois, 30 (including Brainerd) are listed as natural areas of significance. Surrounding the cave are ten surface acres of dry-mesic upland forest and limestone rock outcroppings which serve as buffer for the cave.
Ownership
Illinois Department of Natural Resources
Natural Division
Glaciated Section of the Middle Mississippi Border Natural Division (#8a)
Registered
February 1998
Size
10 acres
Access
Public access is not allowed inside the cave.
Topographic Quad
Grafton
For Further Information
Visit the State Park Website or Contact the INPC
Illinois Nature Preserves Commission
One Natural Resources Way
Springfield, IL 62702
217-785-8686
DNR.INPC@illinois.gov