Winter 2003

With 270 native plant species, the preserve has been the focus of many significant restoration efforts

DuPage County, Illinois

The 92-acre Egermann Woods Forest Preserve is one of the more modest parcels owned by the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County. Purchased in 1974 from a housing developer and named for a previous owner, the preserve is scarcely developed. There is no parking lot, and the 1.3 miles of mowed turf trails follow the same paths used more than 200 years ago by Indians, and later by European farmers. With 270 native plant species, however, Egermann Woods has been the focus of many significant district restoration efforts.

The main mowed trail starts at the north end of the preserve, at a subdivision off Old College Road, and runs south to Hobson Road. On this trail, chipmunks and an occasional coyote skirt the edge of the 75-acre dry mesic forest that grows along the east and northwest sections of Egermann Woods. Few ancient oaks and hickories remain, a testament to the popularity of plank roads in the 1840s, but numerous new elms, hickory, and oaks mark 30 years of replanting efforts.

In the northeastern part of the forest, last year's foliage of dormant elm-leaved goldenrod, aster, Jacob's ladder, Solomon's seal, hyacinth, and columbine pattern the forest floor. District staff and volunteers have been managing this section for more than eight years, removing invasive buckthorn and honeysuckle, herbiciding the stumps, then scattering new seeds.

Halfway down this trail, again on the east, the grove dips into a depression that holds one of the preserve's ephemeral ponds and provides habitat for swamp white oaks. Controlled burns help maintain a variety of flora here, including purple Joe-Pye weed, bottlebrush grass, and white snakeroot.

As Hobson Road comes into view, a second mowed trail appears on the right. At this intersection, the calls of chickadees, downy woodpeckers, and the occasional white-breasted nuthatch seem to compete for attention. The trail to the right leads to an immature forest of box elder and elm in the southwest corner of the preserve. There, the weather-worn foundation of a barn and rows of Osage orange along College Road are nearly all that remain of an old farmstead. Today, an open field bounded by the looped trails brims with reed canary grass (a problem species) and more desirable, native, reintroduced flora such as big bluestem, Indian grass, and cream gentian. A buffer zone of trees and smaller woody plants stretches along Hobson to the south and is known to be home to a great horned owl whose well-camouflaged young have been spotted by late-winter hikers.

Like other DuPage County forest preserves, Egermann Woods is open from one hour after sunrise to one hour after sunset. Hikers, joggers, and cross-country skiers are welcome, as are pet owners with their leashed dogs. Additional preserve and volunteer workday information can be found at www.dupageforest.com or by calling the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County at (630) 933-7200.