Illinois Audubon

Hiking Illinois is your complete guide to 107 of the most scenic day hikes within the Land of Lincoln. No matter what region you wish to explore or how easy or hard a trek you want, this handy guide will lead you to the right trail. In this one-of-a-kind resource, you'll find the following features: Detailed descriptions of every hike, in every region, including special points of interest, estimated hiking time and distance, and difficulty ratings for each trail Phone numbers and Web sites, park hours and rules, and available facilities for 60 of the state's most scenic sites Easy-to-read maps for every park and trail to help you navigate your hike and locate landmarks and other points of interest A convenient trail finder that provides a summary of each trail's features and available facilities Hiking Illinois brings to life the history, terrain, flora, and fauna of each area. And the descriptions of nearby recreational and sightseeing destinations ensure you won't miss anything on your trip. Hiking Illinois is your guide to enjoying the great outdoors!

Table of contents

In the literary imagination, Chicago evokes images of industry and unbridled urban growth. But the tallgrass prairie and deep forests that once made up Chicago’s landscape also inspired musings from residents and visitors alike. In Of Prairie, Woods, and Water, naturalist Joel Greenberg gathers these unique voices from the land to present an unexpected portrait of Chicago in this often charming, sometimes heart-wrenching anthology of nature writing. These writings tell the tale of a land in transition—one with abundant, unique, and incredibly lush flora and fauna, a natural history quite elusive today. Drawing on archives he uncovered while writing his acclaimed A Natural History of the Chicago Region, Greenberg hand-selected these first-person narratives, all written between 1721 and 1959. Not every author is familiar, but every contribution is distinctive. From a pioneer’s hilarious notes on life in the Kankakee marsh to Theodore Drieser’s poignant plea for conservation of the Tippecanoe River to infamous murderer Nathan Leopold’s charming description of a pet robin he kept in prison, the sources included are as diverse as the nature they describe. The excerpts conclude with insightful biographical essays and traverse a wide area of greater Chicagoland, from the Illinois River to southwest Michigan, from southern Wisconsin to the Limberlost swamp of northeastern Indiana. A fascinating record of Chicago’s changing environmental history, Of Prairie, Woods, and Water captures the natural world in a way that will inspire its continued conservation. Errata: We have learned the title of a book by the Chicago ecologist and writer May Theilgaard Watts has been incorrectly rendered in the selections attributed to Mrs. Watts. The correct title of her book is Reading the Landscape of America (Nature Study Guild Publishers, see http://naturestudy.com). This will be corrected in the next printing. We very much regret the error.