List of protected areas of Illinois

Map of Protected Areas of IllinoisEach dot is linked to the corresponding article: Parks; Forests; Recreation Areas; Fish and Wildlife Areas; Natural Areas; National Historic Sites and Trails Illinois has a variety of protected areas, including over 123 state-protected areas, dozens of federally protected areas, hundreds of county-level and municipal park areas, and historic sites under various governmental levels of protection. Illinois also contains sites designated as internationally important protected areas. These multiple levels of protection contribute to a statewide network of numerous recreation opportunities and conservation schemes, sometimes in a small area. For example, DeKalb County contains a forest preserve system and a state park (Shabbona Lake State Park); within DeKalb County, the DeKalb Park District in the City of DeKalb has a park system.

State protected areas Illinois state-owned protected areas include state parks, state forests, state recreation areas, state fish and wildlife areas, state natural areas, and one state trail. These areas are all administered by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. In addition, dozens of state historic sites are administered by the Illinois Historic Preservation Division.

State historic sites State historic sites are typically protected for their historic and cultural importance but may include a nature preservation component, such as at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site and Lincoln's New Salem. For a list, see Illinois Historic Preservation Division.

State parks State parks are owned by the state and generally administered by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Specifically, "State Park" refers to sites "exhibiting exceptional scenic and natural features and terrain" and that "offer a wide range of recreational opportunities for the public to enjoy".

NameCountyArea (acres)Area (km2)EstablishedBodies of waterImageRemarksAdeline Jay Geo-Karis Illinois Beach State Park Lake 1948 Lake Michigan Apple River Canyon State Park Jo Daviess 1932 Apple River Argyle Lake State Park McDonough 1948 Argyle Lake Beall Woods State Park Wabash 1966 Coffee Creek Beaver Dam State Park Macoupin 1947 Beaver Dam Lake Buffalo Rock State Park & Effigy Tumuli LaSalle November 15, 1928 Illinois River Castle Rock State Park Ogle 1921 Rock River Cave-in-Rock State Park Hardin 1929 Ohio River Chain O'Lakes State Park McHenry 1945 Bluff Lake, Catherine Lake, Channel Lake, Fox Lake, Fox River, Grass Lake, Marie Lake, Nippersink Lake, Petite Lake, Pistakee Lake, Redhead Lake, Turner Lake Channahon State Park Will 1932 DuPage River, Des Plaines River, Kankakee River Delabar State Park Henderson 1960 Mississippi River Dixon Springs State Park Pope 1946 Wabash River Donnelley/Depue State Park Putnam 1982 Lake DePue, Spring Lake, Coleman Lake, Illinois River Ferne Clyffe State Park Johnson 1949 Ferne Clyffe Lake Fort Massac State Park Massac 1908 Ohio River Fox Ridge State Park Coles 1930s Ridge Lake, Embarras River Gebhard Woods State Park Grundy 1934 Nettle Creek Giant City State Park Jackson, Union 1927 Little Grassy Lake, Indian Creek Hennepin Canal Parkway State Park Bureau, Lee, Whiteside, Rock Island, Henry 1970 Hennepin Canal linear park (W To Moline then N to Rock Falls vic.)Horseshoe Lake State Park Madison ? Horseshoe Lake Illini State Park LaSalle 1934 Illinois River James "Pate" Philip State Park DuPage, Kane 1991 Brewester Creek Johnson-Sauk Trail State Park Henry ? Johnson-Sauk Trail Lake Jubilee College State Park Peoria 1933 Jubilee Creek Kankakee River State Park Kankakee, Will 1938 Kankakee River Lake Le-Aqua-Na State Park Stephenson 1948 Lake Le-Aqua-Na Lake Murphysboro State Park Jackson 1948 Lake Murphysboro Lincoln Trail State Park Clark 1958 Lincoln Trail Lake Lowden State Park Ogle 1945 Rock River Matthiessen State Park LaSalle 1943 Deer Park Lake, Vermilion River Mississippi Palisades State Park Carroll 1973 Mississippi River, Apple River Moraine Hills State Park McHenry 1939 Lake Defiance, Fox River Morrison-Rockwood State Park Whiteside 1971 Rock Creek, Lake Carlton Nauvoo State Park Hancock ? Mississippi River, Lake Horton Pere Marquette State Park Jersey 1931 Mississippi River, Illinois River Red Hills State Park Lawrence 1953 Muddy Creek Rock Cut State Park Winnebago 1957 Pierce Lake, Olson Lake Rock Island Trail State Park Stark, Peoria 1989 None public rail trail.Shabbona Lake State Park DeKalb 1978 Shabbona Lake Siloam Springs State Park Adams, Brown 1940 South Shore State Park Clinton ? Carlyle Lake Starved Rock State Park LaSalle 1911 Illinois River Walnut Point State Park Douglas 1968 Weinberg-King State Park Schuyler 1968 ? Wolf Creek State Park Shelby 1968 Lake Shelbyville, Wolf Creek

State fish and wildlife areas Areas whose primary purpose is to "reserve land and water areas for production and conservation of fish or wildlife and to provide hunting, fishing, trapping, observation, and other forms of compatible recreational use."

NameCountyArea (acres)Area (km2)EstablishedBodies of waterImageRemarksAnderson Lake State Fish & Wildlife Area Fulton 1947 Anderson Lake Baldwin Lake State Fish & Wildlife Area Randolph ? Baldwin Lake Banner Marsh State Fish and Wildlife Area Fulton 1980sIllinois River Cape Bend State Fish and Wildlife Area Alexander ? Carlyle Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area Fayette 1966 Carlyle Lake Coffeen Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area Montgomery 1966 Coffeen Lake, Shoal Creek Crawford County State Fish and Wildlife Area Crawford ? Huston Creek Des Plaines Fish and Wildlife Area Will 1948 Kankakee River, Milliken Lake Devils Island Wildlife Management Area Alexander, Union ? Mississippi River, Picayune Chute Double T State Fish and Wildlife Area Fulton 2001 Double T Lake Edward R. Madigan State Fish and Wildlife Area Logan 1971 Salt Creek Green River State Wildlife Area Lee 1940 Green River Hamilton County State Fish and Wildlife Area Hamilton 1962 Dolan Lake Heidecke Lake State Fish & Wildlife Area Grundy ? Heidecke Lake Horseshoe Lake State Fish & Wildlife Area Alexander ? Horseshoe Lake Iroquois County State Wildlife Area Iroquois 1944 None Occupies the edge of the former Glacial Lake Watseka.Jim Edgar Panther Creek State Fish and Wildlife Area Cass June 1993 Gridley Lake, Prairie Lake, Drake Lake Kaskaskia River State Fish & Wildlife Area St. Clair, Monroe, Randolph ? Kaskaskia River, Baldwin Lake Kinkaid Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area Jackson 1968 Kinkaid Lake, Johnson Creek, Reed Creek Kishwaukee River State Fish and Wildlife Area DeKalb 2002 Kishwaukee River LaSalle Lake State Fish & Wildlife Area LaSalle ? LaSalle Lake Mackinaw River State Fish and Wildlife Area Tazewell 1970 Mackinaw River Marshall State Fish & Wildlife Area Marshall 1925 Illinois River Mautino State Fish and Wildlife Area Bureau ? 15 lakes Mazonia/Braidwood State Fish and Wildlife Area Grundy 1981 Braidwood Lake Mermet Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area Massac 1949 Mermet Lake Middle Fork State Fish and Wildlife Area Vermilion 1986 Middle Fork Mississippi River State Fish and Wildlife Area Jersey, Calhoun ? Stump Lake, Fuller Lake Newton Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area Jasper 1979 Newton Lake, Sand Creek, Laws Creek Peabody River State Fish and Wildlife Area Randolph ? 20 lakes Pekin Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area Tazewell ? Pekin Lake, Worley Lake Powerton Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area Tazewell September 18, 1984Powerton Lake Ray Norbut State Fish and Wildlife Area Pike 1970 Illinois River Rend Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area Franklin, Jefferson ? Rend Lake Rice Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area Fulton 1945 Rice Lake Saline County State Fish and Wildlife Area Saline 1959 Glen O. Jones Lake Sam Dale Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area Wayne 1959 Sam Dale Lake Sam Parr State Fish and Wildlife Area Jasper 1960 Sanganois State Fish and Wildlife Area Cass, Schuyler, Mason 1948 Shelbyville State Fish and Wildlife Area Moultrie ? Kaskaskia River, West Okaw River Silver Springs State Fish & Wildlife Area Kendall 1969 Fox River, Loon Lake, Beaver Lake, Silver Springs Snakeden Hollow State Fish and Wildlife Area Knox 1987 Snakeden Hollow Lake Spring Lake Fish and Wildlife Area Tazewell 1950 Spring Lake Ten Mile Creek State Fish & Wildlife Area Hamilton, Jefferson 1988 Ten Mile Creek Turkey Bluffs State Fish and Wildlife Area Randolph ? Union County State Fish and Wildlife Area Union 1940s Woodford State Fish and Wildlife Area Woodford Illinois River, Upper Peoria Lake

State recreation areas

NameCountyArea (acres)Area (km2)EstablishedBodies of waterImageRemarksClinton Lake State Recreation Area DeWitt 1978 Clinton Lake, Salt Creek, Old Creek Eagle Creek State Recreation Area Shelby May 1963 Lake Shelbyville, Eagle Creek Eldon Hazlet State Recreation Area Clinton ? Carlyle Lake, Lake Shelbyville Frank Holten State Recreation Area St. Clair 1964 Whispering Willow Lake, Grand Marais Lake Golconda Marina State Recreation Area Pope ? Ohio River Kickapoo State Recreation Area Vermilion 1939 Middle Fork Moraine View State Recreation Area McLean 1959 Dawson Lake, Salt Creek Prophetstown State Recreation Area Whiteside 1947 Coon Creek, Rock River Pyramid State Recreation Area Perry 1968 Super Lake Ramsey Lake State Recreation Area Fayette ? Ramsey Lake, Ramsey Creek Randolph County State Recreation Area Randolph 1958 Randolph County Lake Sangchris Lake State Recreation Area Christian, Sangamon 1964 Sangchris Lake Stephen A. Forbes State Recreation Area Marion 1959 Washington County State Recreation Area Washington 1959 Wayne Fitzgerrell State Recreation Area Franklin, Jefferson 1975 Rend Lake, Big Muddy River Weldon Springs State Recreation Area DeWitt 1948 Salt Creek

State natural areas Areas of land which "either retains or has recovered to a substantial degree its original natural or primeval character, though it need not be completely undisturbed, or has floral, faunal, ecological, geological or archaeological features of scientific, educational, scenic or esthetic interest."

NameCountyArea (acres)Area (km2)EstablishedBodies of waterImageRemarksCache River State Natural Area Johnson 1970 Cache River Franklin Creek State Natural Area Lee 1982 Franklin Creek Fults Hill Prairie State Natural Area Monroe 1970 Kidd Lake Goose Lake Prairie State Natural Area Grundy 1969 Goose Lake, Des Plaines River, Kankakee River, Illinois River Harry "Babe" Woodyard State Natural Area Vermilion ? Little Vermilion River (Wabash River tributary) Managed as an outlying unit of Kickapoo State Recreation AreaIllinois Caverns State Natural Area Monroe 1985 None 9.6 km of the park are passages underground.Mitchell's Grove Nature Preserve LaSalle 1997 Little Vermilion River (Illinois River tributary) Piney Creek Ravine State Natural Area Jackson, Randolph 1972 Piney Creek Prairie Ridge State Natural Area Jasper, Marion Revis Hill Prairie Mason1973 Managed as an outlying unit of Sand Ridge State ForestSand Prairie-Scrub Oak Nature Preserve Mason1970 Managed as an outlying unit of Sand Ridge State ForestSielbeck Forest Natural Area Johnson 1998 Spitler Woods State Natural Area Macon 1937 Squirrel Creek Volo Bog State Natural Area Lake 1970 Volo Bog

Other state protected areas

NameCountyArea (acres)Area (km2)EstablishedBodies of waterImageRemarksBig River State Forest Henderson 1925 Mississippi River Bohm Woods Nature Preserve Madison November 2006 Hidden Springs State Forest Shelby 1960 Richland Creek, Possum Creek Lewis and Clark State Historic Site Madison 2002 None North Point Marina Lake ? Lake Michigan Sand Ridge State Forest Mason 1939 None Trail of Tears State Forest Union 1929 Mississippi River, Clear Creek Tunnel Hill State Trail Johnson, Pulaski, Saline, Williamson None Trail.Wildlife Prairie Park Peoria 2000 Deep Lake, Caboose Lake, Beaver Lake, Horseshoe Lake

Federally protected areas