Pratt’s Wayne Forest Preserve, IL

Pratt’s Wayne Woods is home to over 1,000 species of native plants and animals. Below the savanna’s widely spaced oaks grow dogbane, pale-leaved sunflower, and smooth yellow violet wildflowers. In the marshy areas, explorers can view great Angelica, marsh marigold, shooting star, nodding ladies’ tresses, and spotted joe-pye weed as well as egrets, great blue herons, and wood ducks. The preserve’s grasslands and wetland habitats are successful breeding sites for sandhill cranes, Henslow’s sparrows, least bitterns, yellow-headed blackbirds, and other rare species. 

Here to share with you a hike through Pratt’s Wayne Woods in Bartlett, IL

In 1998 the Forest Preserve District started work on the Brewster Creek Wetland Restoration Project in the north-central part of the preserve. Since then, it’s removed agricultural drain tiles, saturating the soil and returning over 130 acres to viable wetland ecosystems. In 2005 work at the site unearthed the 12,000-year-old remains of a mastodon, giving it paleontological as well as ecological significance.

In 2004 Audubon named the forest preserve an Important Bird Area, and in 2012 the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission gave 256 acres of the preserve an extra level of protection by designating it as the Brewster Creek Marsh Nature Preserve. 

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Gorgeous day at Pratt’s Wayne Woods.

Pratt’s Wayne has a space for equestrian training.

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Enjoy a bike ride along this extensive trail.

A short walk on the side of the road connects me from the Illinois Prairie Path to the rest of my hike.

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I cross under the railroad to continue my hike.

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