Land and Water Reserve Area
7
County
St. Clair
Location
The site is on the east edge of St. Clair County, within 2 miles of the Washington County border, and 2.5 miles east of Fayetteville.
Description
Wagon Lake Land and Water Reserve is a Grade A shrub-swamp/marsh community with several rare plant species (including three state-listed species) recognized on the Illinois Natural Areas Inventory (INAI #0308). The shrub swamp/marsh is dominated by buttonbush and smartweed species and includes a diverse assemblage of other wetland plant species including hairy rose mallow, bur reed, yellow pond lily, fragrant water lily, and allow arum. The site also contains successional woods and Grade B and C wet bottomland forest, dominated by pin oak, black willow, and silver maple. The area represents an excellent example of a backwater lake associated with the Kaskaskia Corridor and is in very close proximity to the 7,300-acre large forest block identified as the Kaskaskia Bottoms Macrosite.
Ownership
Illinois Department of Natural Resources
Natural Division
Effingham Plain Section of the Southern Till Plain Natural Division (#9a)
Registered
February 2005
Size
114 acres
Access
The site is open to the public for hiking and wildlife watching, but there are no trails.
Topographic Quad
Venedy
For Further Information
Illinois Nature Preserves Commission
One Natural Resources Way
Springfield, IL 62702
217-785-8686
DNR.INPC@illinois.gov