53 GOOSE LAKE PRAIRIE STATE NATURAL AREA: Prairie View Trail

KEY AT-A-GLANCE INFORMATION

LENGTH: 2.8 miles

CONFIGURATION: Out-and-back with loop

DIFFICULTY: Easy

SCENERY: Tallgrass prairie, marshes, ponds, small hills

EXPOSURE: Completely exposed

SURFACE: Mowed grass. Depending on rainfall, you may encounter a few sections of the trail submerged under 1–3 inches of water. Call the visitor center for current conditions.

HIKING TIME: 1 hour

DRIVING DISTANCE: 64 miles from Millennium Park, downtown Chicago

ACCESS: The park is open from sunrise to sunset; the visitor center is open 10 a.m.–4 p.m.

WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: No

FACILITIES: Restrooms, picnic areas, and a visitor center with exhibits

MAPS: Park map available at visitor center and online at dnr.state.il.us; USGS topo Coal City, IL

SPECIAL COMMENTS: Pets must be leashed. Contact the visitor center at (815) 942-2899. September and July are the best times for wildflowers. July offers the most color, while September is shimmering with goldenrod. Keep an eye out for ticks: on a visit in early summer, I picked off 5 ticks while on this hike. For more hiking at this park, see profile 52.

GPS TRAILHEAD COORDINATES

Latitude 389856

Longitude 4579427

Directions

From Chicago, take I-90/I-94 south to I-55. Follow I-55 south for 51 miles until reaching Exit 240. Take Pine Bluff–Lorenzo Road to the right (west) for 2.9 miles. Turn right at the sign for Goose Lake Prairie State Natural Area (North Jugtown Road). Proceed ahead 1 mile and then turn right at the sign for the visitor center.

IN BRIEF

Goose Lake Prairie State Natural Area provides visitors with a rare glimpse of what the Prairie State was like before farming became king. Be sure to climb the hill that rises up at the hike’s halfway point for a panoramic view of the marshes and ponds surrounded by the state’s largest stand of tallgrass prairie.

DESCRIPTION

Goose Lake Prairie is one of the few places in Illinois where you get a sense of the expansive grassland that was so common in the Prairie State 150 years ago. This prairie was spared from the plow not as a result of lack of interest on the part of local farmers, but because of the stubbornness of the land. As far back as 1890 farmers tried to make this land conducive for farming by draining 1,000-acre Goose Lake. Then, 35 years later, they dug drainage ditches to drain the water that remained in the marshes and ponds. Still, natural springs kept the ground too wet for farming.

With no chance for growing crops, farmers instead brought in livestock and allowed occasional mining. The two hills you’ll encounter halfway through the hike resulted from coal mining carried out in the southern portion of the park in the 1920s. Along with coal, clay was pulled out of the former location of Goose Lake. The clay deposits—and the proximity of efficient transportation along the I&M Canal—brought in what was likely the first mass producer of pottery in the state. Local history buffs will enjoy a recently added exhibit in the visitor center highlighting Jugtown Pottery Works, which started in 1856 and lasted for about 10 years in what is now the southwest corner of the park.

Another recently added exhibit in the visitor center features the plant and animal fossils from 300 million years ago that have been dug up at a mining operation at Mazon Creek, south of the park. One specimen—which happens to be the state fossil of Illinois—shows the imprint of a creature known as the Tully monster, which was about five inches long and wormlike, with unusual eyestalks and a long snout that ended in a claw with eight sharp teeth. Tully-monster fossils have only been found in Illinois, primarily around Mazon Creek.

Start the hike on the south side of the visitor-center parking lot. If the gate for the trail is closed, hikers are still invited to venture forth, as long as they understand that several sections could be flooded with a few inches of water. At 0.3 mile into the hike, a short trail branches on the right to the Prairie Grove Picnic Area. Beyond the trail to the picnic area, the terrain begins to roll very gently. During the warmer months, you’ll see red-wing blackbirds perched on the tallgrasses and swallows swooping overhead. With the absence of trees, it doesn’t appear that deer have many places to hide on the prairie. Keep alert, however, and you’ll see how quickly they can disappear into the stands of bushes and taller grasses.

At 0.8 mile, stay right at the fork to begin a 1.2-mile loop. The trail swings left alongside Pine Bluff–Lorenzo Road, and then curves left again before arriving at a spur trail on the right heading up a 40-foot hill. While it seems like an insignificant mound on the prairie, the view from the top is striking. Along with several ponds at the base of the hill, you can see the visitor center 1 mile north, as well as a scattering of ponds and marshes east of the visitor center. Also, the Dresden Nuclear Power Plant is visible 3.4 miles to the northeast, and another power plant, the Midwest Collins Generating Station, is visible 2.1 miles to the west.

Coming down from the hill, the path continues between two ponds, and then passes a sign describing the park’s efforts at restoring the area from coal mining by lowering the soil’s acidity. After the sign, stay to the left. If the weather has been wet, expect to see a couple inches of water on the trail for about 15 yards or so. As the trail moves to drier ground, you’ll pass a big cattail marsh on the right. Stay to the right at the fork, and then follow the trail 0.8 mile back to the parking lot.

NEARBY ACTIVITIES

Adjacent to Goose Lake Prairie is Heidecke State Fish and Wildlife Area, a 2,000-acre cooling pond for Midwest Collins Generating Station. During fishing season, you can walk along the dikes accessible on the east side of the lake. Heidecke Lake hosts a variety of water birds and is a reliable spot for seeing bald eagles, particularly during winter. The boat ramp north of the entrance to Goose Lake Prairie has a concession stand that sells bait and food and rents boats and motors. To get to the east side of the lake, take Jugtown Road to Pine Bluff–Lorenzo Road and turn left (east). Turn left (north) on Dresden Road and follow signs for the lake.