From List of National Natural Landmarks, these are the National Natural Landmarks in Illinois. There are 18 in total, X are lakes or pond, Y are forests, Z are other.
Name | Image | Date | Location | County | Description | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Allerton Natural Area | 1970 | Piatt | Contains relatively undisturbed examples of bottomland and upland forests. | ||
2 | Bell Smith Springs | 1980 | Pope | A fragile area containing some of the best examples of ecosystems typical of sharply dissected sandstone substrates. | ||
3 | Busse Forest Nature Preserve | February 1980 | Schaumburg, Illinois | Cook | A surviving fragment of flatwoods, a type of damp-ground forest in the Great Lakes region. Characterized by red maple, swamp white oak, and black ash trees. It is part of the larger Ned Brown Forest Preserve, managed by the Cook County Forest Preserves. | |
4 | Forest of the Wabash | 1965 | Wabash | Essentially undisturbed upland and bottomland forests lying along the Wabash River. | ||
5 | Fults Hill Prairie Nature Preserve | 1986 | Monroe | Essentially undisturbed loess hill prairies. | ||
6 | Funks Grove | 1974 | McLean | Rare example of the virgin forests once isolated on the prairies of the Midwest. | ||
7 | Giant City | 1980 | Union | An exceptional example of gravity sliding, consisting of massive joint-bounded sandstone blocks of Pennsylvanian age. | ||
8 | Heron Pond - Little Black Slough | 1972 | Johnson | Largest remaining cypress-tupelo swamp in Illinois. | ||
9 | Horseshoe Lake | 1972 | Alexander | Contains diverse aquatic and terrestrial flora and fauna and mature stands of bald cypress. | ||
10 | Illinois Beach Nature Preserve | 1980 | Lake County | Supports over 60 species of animals and plants that are threatened or endangered in Illinois. | ||
11 | LaRue-Pine Hills Ecological Area | 1974 | Union | One of the finest assemblages of diverse vegetation in the Midwest. | ||
12 | Little Grand Canyon | 1980 | Jackson | A large box canyon with vertical overhanging walls. | ||
13 | Lower Cache River Swamp | 1980 | Johnson, Pulaski | Remnant of the swampy flood plain forest and open swamp that once covered an extensive area at the junction of the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys | ||
14 | Lusk Creek Canyon | 1980 | Pope | An excellent example of a gorge-like valley formed by mass wasting and stream erosion in lower Pennsylvanian sandstones. | ||
15 | Markham Prairie | 1987 | Cook | Largest and highest quality prairie in Illinois. | ||
16 | Mississippi Palisades | 1972 | Carroll | Deep V- shaped valleys, caves and sinks, and massive cliffs along the Mississippi River. | ||
17 | Volo Bog Nature Preserve | 1972 | Lake | Contains many unusual or rare plants that are characteristic of the classic northern quaking bog. | ||
18 | Wauconda Bog Nature Preserve | 1972 | Lake | Mature bog with bog vegetation at their farthest southern extension in Illinois. |
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