Agencies
Services
Land and Water Reserve Area
9
County
Union, Johnson
Location
The site is approximately 2 miles southwest of Goreville and 1 mile east of Lick Creek within Ferne Clyffe State Park.
Description
Cedar/Draper’s Bluff Land and Water Reserve contains portions of the Cedar Bluff Illinois Natural Areas Inventory site (INAI #0359) and the Draper’s Bluff INAI site (#0967), which are disjunct but part of the same complex of sandstone bluffs and canyons. The Draper’s Bluff segment is a massive cliff system of Battery Rock sandstone that is part of the Pennsylvanian cuesta that runs across southern Illinois from the Mississippi River to the Ohio River. The Cedar Bluff segment is an erosional remnant isolated from the main Pennsylvania cuesta and is itself a small cuesta. Both segments contain outstanding examples of the Pennsylvanian escarpment with sheer south-facing cliffs over 100 feet high containing exceptional sandstone cliff communities. Pockets of old growth mesic and dry-mesic upland forest are found on slopes and ravines grading up through dry upland forest with very rare xeric forest communities found along the bluff tops. High-quality sandstone glades are intermingled with dry woodland and xeric forest communities in several locations along the bluff. Additionally, over 480 plant species have been observed on site.
Ownership
Illinois Department of Natural Resources
Natural Division
Greater Shawnee Hills Section of the Shawnee Hills Natural Division (#13a), Lesser Shawnee Hills Section of the Shawnee Hills Natural Division (#13b)
Registered
August 1998
Size
741 acres
Access
Only the Cedar Bluff portion of the Reserve is freely accessible to the public. To access the site, take I-57 to the Lick Creek exit (#36) and travel east on Lick Creek Road for 1.5 miles. Proceed east on Lick Creek Road and turn north on Cedar Grove Road until the road forks. Parking at Cedar Grove Church marks the southwest corner of the Reserve. Other parking areas are located both west (Regent Road) and east (Cedar Grove Road) of the fork. There are hiking trails through the site and a marked section of the main south-facing bluff is open to rock climbing.
Topographic Quad
Lick Creek
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