The Crab Orchard Wilderness is a 4050 acres (16.4 km²) parcel of land listed as a Wilderness Area of the United States. It is located within the Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge

Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge

Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge is a 43,890 acre National Wildlife Refuge primarily in southwestern Williamson County, but with small extensions into adjacent eastern Jackson and northeastern Union counties of southern Illinois, in the United States. Its land and water contain a wide...

 in Williamson County, Illinois

Williamson County, Illinois

-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*92.7% White*3.8% Black*0.4% Native American*0.8% Asian*0.0% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*1.7% Two or more races*0.4% Other races*2.0% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...

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Second-growth wilderness

As with other wilderness areas in southern Illinois, the Crab Orchard Wilderness is made of second-growth forested areas that were used, until the land condemnations of the 1930s, as agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

 and pasture

Pasture

Pasture is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep or swine. The vegetation of tended pasture, forage, consists mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs...

 land. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service

United States Fish and Wildlife Service

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is a federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats...

 manages much of the wilderness.

The Crab Orchard Wilderness is a roadless parcel of land within a national wildlife refuge. Together with the adjacent Panther Den Wilderness

Panther Den Wilderness

The Panther Den Wilderness is a parcel of land listed as a Wilderness Area of the United States. It is located within the Shawnee National Forest in Union County in the U.S...

, it forms part of the southern shore of Devils Kitchen Lake

Devils Kitchen Lake

Devil's Kitchen Lake is an 810-acre reservoir in southern Illinois, created by the damming of Grassy Creek, a tributary of Crab Orchard Lake and the Big Muddy River. Most of the lake is located in Williamson County, southwest of Marion, Illinois. The lake is accessible from Interstate 57. Two...

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The Crab Orchard Wilderness is accessible by several paved highways. The nearest divided highway is Interstate 57

Interstate 57

Interstate 57 is an Interstate Highway in Missouri and Illinois that parallels the old Illinois Central rail line for much of its route. It goes from Miner, Missouri, at Interstate 55 to Chicago, Illinois, at Interstate 94. I-57 essentially serves as a shortcut route for travelers headed between...

, which passes through the nearby city of Marion, Illinois

Marion, Illinois

The city of Marion is the county seat of Williamson County, Illinois. The 2010 census counted 17,193 residents, making Marion the 25th most populated city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area, in Illinois, and the second most populous city in Southern Illinois, outside of the Metro-East, behind...

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