Into the Wild

Reed-Turner Woodland

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Lake County, Illinois

Intimate preserve features oak-covered morainal ridges bordering the deep ravine of Indian Creek

The rich history of Reed-Turner Woodland, a 33-acre section of the original grove of oak and hickory trees for which Long Grove was named, becomes evident even before stepping into the small preserve. Sitting by the fireplace in the rustic nature center, Barbara Reed Turner explains: “This is my old house. My parents built the house in 1929.” Turner, who donated this land for conservation through The Nature Conservancy in 1976, still lives on the preserve. She has served as steward of the site, now an Illinois State Nature Preserve, for decades.

Just outside the center, red and white oaks overlook the south branch of Indian Creek. “What’s nice about this place,” explains Tori Trauscht, project administrator for the Long Grove Park District, which now manages the preserve with Turner, “is that kids can walk around in an afternoon and observe so many different habitats.”

Woodchip footpaths diverge from the nature center, ideal for birding, photography, and nature walks. The North Ridge Trail runs along a moraine, through oak woodland and then open bur oak savanna. The trail then crosses Indian Creek over a wooden boardwalk. Running along a deep natural ravine corridor, the creek has received significant work to stabilize its banks and revitalize streamside habitat. Trauscht expects the sedge meadow here to be beautiful this summer following four years of restoration.

The South Ridge Trail passes through a forest of red oak and sugar maple, then back over the wet meadow. From the South Ridge Trail, the Pond View Trail continues to a bur and scarlet oak savanna. On a hot summer day, visitors can cool off in the lake breeze beside Reed Pond, an eight-acre bay of the much larger Salem Lake. The trail continues through a prairie opening and back into oak woodland.

Potawatomi and Miami Indians once kept this landscape open and healthy with their use of fire. But Europeans who settled the Long Grove area in the 1830s suppressed fire, resulting in a boom of fire-sensitive species such as black cherry, ironwood, and black walnut. The closed canopy allowed aggressive, shade-tolerant invasive species such as garlic mustard and buckthorn to dominate the ground flora. Today, however, restoration has almost completely removed them.

“We have a good resident bird group — woodpeckers, finches, red-tailed hawks, Cooper’s hawks, and mallards that nest along the creek,” says Turner, illustrating why the preserve, which also hosts a vibrant wave of migrant warblers, is so popular among birders. Other summertime residents include indigo bunting, red-eyed vireo, and great crested flycatcher. Summer flora includes elm-leaved and zig-zag goldenrod, bottle gentian, great blue lobelia, and cardinal flower, but visitors should not miss the rich spring wildflower display for which the preserve has gained a reputation.

For more information, call (847) 438-4743 or visit longgroveparkdistrict.com. Volunteers are always welcome. Nature center open by appointment only. Pets and bikes are not permitted.

— Jennifer Tang

Related Articles:

Reed-Turner Woodland Photographic Project by Tobin Fraley

Indian Creek Restoration Moves Ahead, News of the Wild, Fall 2003