Thorn Creek Nature Center and Preserve
Encyclopedia
Thorn Creek Woods Nature Center and Preserve is located in Will County, Illinois
near the municipality of Park Forest, Illinois
. It is part of the Forest Preserve District of Will County
. The entranceway to Thorn Creek Woods Nature Preserve is located at 247 Monee Road, approximately 0.25 miles (402.3 m) north of Stunkel Road, in Park Forest. The preserve is open 8:00 a.m. - dusk daily; the Nature Center is open 12:00 - 4:00 p.m. Friday- Sunday. At 830 acres (3.4 km²), Thorn Creek Nature Preserve lies at the headwaters of Thorn Creek
and consists of bottamlands, ravine
s, and white-oak forests interspersed with marsh
and meadows. The actual nature center is located inside of an old church right off Monee Road. It is two stories and contains a nature library and nature exhibits. The trail starts behind the church and heads east into the woods. The topography varies. The trail starts off on high land before dropping down into the Thorn Creek River Valley. It then crosses the creek and goes up and out of the valley, again. The terrain is pretty rugged, especially near the river and its tributaries, because they have cut many gorges and ravines.
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
near the municipality of Park Forest, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. It is part of the Forest Preserve District of Will County
Forest Preserve District of Will County
The Forest Preserve District of Will County was created by referendum on July 25, 1927, to preserve open spaces in Will County, Illinois, USA. The first land acquisition was in 1930. As of December 2010, the District owns or manages 21,916 acres of land...
. The entranceway to Thorn Creek Woods Nature Preserve is located at 247 Monee Road, approximately 0.25 miles (402.3 m) north of Stunkel Road, in Park Forest. The preserve is open 8:00 a.m. - dusk daily; the Nature Center is open 12:00 - 4:00 p.m. Friday- Sunday. At 830 acres (3.4 km²), Thorn Creek Nature Preserve lies at the headwaters of Thorn Creek
Thorn Creek
Thorn Creek is a tributary of the Little Calumet River that travels through Will and Cook counties in northeastern Illinois just south of Chicago. It starts in the high land of the Valparaiso Moraine before dropping to the lower elevations of the Little Calumet River valley. Along its path it has...
and consists of bottamlands, ravine
Ravine
A ravine is a landform narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streamcutting erosion. Ravines are typically classified as larger in scale than gullies, although smaller than valleys. A ravine is generally a fluvial slope landform of relatively steep sides, on the order of twenty to...
s, and white-oak forests interspersed with marsh
Marsh
In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....
and meadows. The actual nature center is located inside of an old church right off Monee Road. It is two stories and contains a nature library and nature exhibits. The trail starts behind the church and heads east into the woods. The topography varies. The trail starts off on high land before dropping down into the Thorn Creek River Valley. It then crosses the creek and goes up and out of the valley, again. The terrain is pretty rugged, especially near the river and its tributaries, because they have cut many gorges and ravines.
See also
- Thorn CreekThorn CreekThorn Creek is a tributary of the Little Calumet River that travels through Will and Cook counties in northeastern Illinois just south of Chicago. It starts in the high land of the Valparaiso Moraine before dropping to the lower elevations of the Little Calumet River valley. Along its path it has...
- Valparaiso MoraineValparaiso MoraineThe Valparaiso Moraine is a terminal moraine around the Lake Michigan basin in North America. It is a band of high, hilly terrain made up of glacial till and sand that reaches an elevation of near 300 feet above the level of Lake Michigan at its maximum height in Indiana and 17 miles wide at its...
- Will County, IllinoisWill County, IllinoisAs of the census of 2000, there were 502,266 people, 167,542 households, and 131,017 families residing in the county. The population density was 600 people per square mile . There were 175,524 housing units at an average density of 210 per square mile...
- Park Forest, IllinoisPark Forest, IllinoisPark Forest is a village located south of Chicago in Cook County and Will County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 23,462...