Heron Pond – Little Black Slough Nature Preserve
Heron Pond – Little Black Slough Nature Preserve | |
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Map of Illinois | |
Location | Johnson County, Illinois |
Nearest city | Vienna |
Coordinates | 37°22′01″N 88°57′00″W / 37.367°N 88.950°W |
Area | 1,861 acres (753 ha) |
Designated | 1972 |
Official name | Cache River and Cypress Creek Wetlands |
Designated | 1 November 1994 |
Reference no. | 711[1] |
Heron Pond – Little Black Slough Nature Preserve (also known simply as Heron Pond) is a parcel of protected
Biological history
Heron Pond – Little Black Slough Nature Preserve protects a swath of Cache River drainage upstream from the Post Creek Cutoff.[3] Its biology and geology are representative of the Coastal Plain natural division in Illinois,[4] which is the northernmost extent of the Gulf Coastal Plain in North America. It combines upland limestone bluffs (Wildcat Bluff), Cache River floodplain, and a drier mesic woodland (Boss Island).
The wetland sections of this Nature Preserve protect several
The name of the Wildcat Bluff upland may commemorate one of the nature preserve's
Today
The Heron Pond – Little Black Slough Nature Preserve complex comprises 1,861 acres (753 hectares) of land accessible from
A floating boardwalk that is part of the Todd Fink-Heron Pond Trail allows visitors to enter the bald cypress/water tupelo swamp.[6][7]
The name of the small nearby town of Cypress, Illinois, appears to commemorate the cypress trees of the upper Cache River drainage, including the groves now protected within the Heron Pond – Little Black Slough Nature Preserve.
References
- ^ a b "Cache River and Cypress Creek Wetlands". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
- ^ a b c "Heron Pond - Little Black Slough Nature Preserve: Johnson County". Illinois Nature Preserves Commission. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
- ^ "Cache River State Natural Area Site Map" (PDF). Retrieved 16 July 2023.
- ^ "Natural Division Overview". dnr.illinois.gov. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
- ^ "State Champion Cherrybark Oak Tree - Belknap, IL - Exceptional Trees on Waymarking.com". www.waymarking.com. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
- ^ a b c "Heron Pond". ShawneeForest.com. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
- ^ "Cache River State Natural Area". dnr.illinois.gov. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
External links
- Heron Pond-Little Black Slough Natural Area - Illinois Department of Natural Resources