Agencies
Services
Land and Water Reserve Area
2
County
Lake
Location
The reserve is in Deer Park in the southwest portion of Lake County, bordered on the west by Lake Zurich Road, Cuba Road to the north, and extends east beyond Ela Road. It is transected by a rail line and is boarded by residential development. Neighboring communities include Deer Park, the Villages of Barrington and North Barrington, and Lake Zurich.
Description
Cuba Marsh Land and Water Reserve is recognized by the Illinois Natural Areas Inventory as a large fresh-water marsh that provides suitable nesting habitat for four state-listed wetlands birds. The site consists of Grade B and C dry-mesic prairie (5.6 acres), Grade C and D dry-mesic savanna (112 acres), Grade C and D sedge meadow (20 acres), and Grade C and D freshwater marsh (126 acres) natural communities that are arrayed along elevation, moisture, and soil gradients. Two of the wetland basins within the reserve are Lake County Advanced Identification wetlands (#178, 179) that were recognized for high functional value (storm water storage and sediment/toxicant reduction) and high biological value (presence of state-listed species). There has been 277 plant species reported from the site from a variety of moisture and habitat affinities. The natural communities also support several wildlife species considered Species in Greatest Need of Conservation.
Ownership
Lake County Forest Preserve District
Natural Division
Morainal Section of the Northeastern Morainal Natural Division (#3a)
Registered
February 2011
Size
767 acres
Access
The site is open to the public. The most used public access point with a full range of accommodations (parking lot and restroom facility) is located on Cuba Road just west of the intersection of Cuba Road and Ela Road. The 2.7 miles of trails extend south, providing two trail loops, with extensions that terminate with access to the Barrington Park District’s Citizens Park in the southeast corner of the site and Ela Road in the southeast corner.
Topographic Quad
Lake Zurich & Barrington
For Further Information
Visit the Lake County Forest Preserve District Website or Contact the INPC
Illinois Nature Preserves Commission
One Natural Resources Way
Springfield, IL 62702
217-785-8686
DNR.INPC@illinois.gov