Pyramid State Recreation Area

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Pyramid State Recreation Area, the largest state recreation area in Illinois, contains 19,701 acres (79.7 km²). It is located within Perry County, and is administered by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (Illinois DNR). The nearest large town is Pinckneyville, Illinois.

[edit] History and current use

Pyramid State Recreation Area is almost entirely made up of land that was strip mined for coal. Like much of Southern Illinois, the region lay atop Pennsylvanian deposits of coal. Much of the coal was owned by St. Louis interests, and was shipped to that city for heating and industrial production during the first part of the 1900s. Until the 1960s, it was the custom to write off strip-mined sections of Illinois as worthless.

In 1968, the state of Illinois began to acquire the former coal-mine properties that today form Pyramid State Recreation Area, and commenced to rehabilitate the region as a new natural area, at first named Pyramid State Park. The new state park was named after one of the coal mines that formerly operated on the property. In 2001, Illinois DNR acquired 16,245 acres (65.7 km²) of land from a coal company, forming the largest portion of the new Pyramid State Recreation Area.

The deposits of coal mine tailings on Pyramid State Recreation Area give the park an undulating appearance, very different from the natural morphology of most of Illinois. 16.5 miles (26 km) of trails offer challenges to hikers, horseback riders, and mountain bikers.

The Illinois DNR manages sections of the park for the hunting of deer and waterfowl. There is fishing for largemouth bass and bluegill. Much of the former strip-mined land has been replanted with trees, with tolerant, early succession trees such as cottonwood, box elder, and sycamore predominating. Illinois DNR planners hope to increase the numbers of oak and hickory trees in the recreation area.

	Protected Areas of Illinois Department of Natural Resources
State Parks	Apple River | Argyle Lake | Beall Woods | Beaver Dam | Buffalo Rock | Castle Rock | Cave-in-Rock | Chain O'Lakes | Channahon | Delabar | Dixon Springs | Donnelley/Depue | Ferne Clyffe | Fort Massac | Fox Ridge | Franklin Creek | Gebhard Woods | Giant City | Hazel & Bill Rutherford Wildlife Prairie | Hennepin Canal | Horseshoe Lake State Park (Madison County) | Illini | Illinois Beach | James "Pate" Philip | Johnson-Sauk Trail | Jubilee College | Kankakee River | Lake Le-Aqua-Na | Lake Murphysboro | Lincoln Trail | Lowden | Matthiessen | Mississippi Palisades | Moraine Hills | Morrison-Rockwood | Nauvoo | Pere Marquette | Red Hills | Rock Cut | Rock Island Trail | Shabbona Lake | Siloam Springs | South Shore | Starved Rock | Walnut Point | Weinberg-King | White Pines Forest | William G. Stratton | Wolf Creek
State Forests	Big River | Hidden Springs | Sand Ridge | Trail of Tears
State Recreation Areas	Clinton Lake | Eagle Creek | Eldon Hazlet | Frank Holten | Golconda Marina | Kickapoo | Moraine View | North Point Marina | Prophetstown | Pyramid | Ramsey Lake | Randolph County | Sangchris Lake | Stephen A. Forbes | Washington County | Wayne Fitzgerrell | Weldon Springs | William W. Powers
State Fish & Wildlife Areas	Anderson Lake | Baldwin Lake | Carlyle Lake | Coffeen Lake | Crawford County | Des Plaines | Edward R. Madigan | Green River | Hamilton County | Heidecke Lake | Horseshoe Lake (Alexander County) | Iroquois | Kaskaskia River | Kinkaid Lake | Kishwaukee River | LaSalle Lake | Mackinaw River | Marshall | Mautino | Mazonia/Braidwood | Mermet Lake | Middle Fork | Mississippi River | Newton Lake | Panther Creek | Peabody River | Ray Norbut | Rend Lake | Rice Lake | Saline County | Sam Dale Lake | Sam Parr | Sanganois | Shelbyville | Silver Springs | Snakeden Hollow | Spring Lake | Ten Mile Creek | Turkey Bluffs | Union County | Woodford
State Natural Areas	Cache River | Fults Hill Prairie | Goose Lake Prairie | Harry "Babe" Woodyard | Illinois Caverns | Kidd Lake | Piney Creek Ravine | Sielbeck Forest | Spitler Woods | Volo Bog
State Trails	Tunnel Hill

	Municipalities and Communities of Perry County, Illinois (County Seat: Pinckneyville)
Cities, Towns and Villages	Conant | Cutler | Du Quoin | Pinckneyville | St. Johns | Swanwick | Tamaroa | Willisville | Winkle
Precincts	Beaucoup | Cutler | Denmark | DuQuoin | Paradise | Pinckneyville | Sunfield | Swanwick | Tamaroa | Willisville