Hickory Creek Barrens
Will County, Illinois

Containing one of the largest and best barrens communities in northern Illinois, Hickory Creek Barrens Nature Preserve offers visitors a unique opportunity to experience this rare but hardy ecosystem.

In the past, the word "barrens" has been used for a variety of communities, but today it is mostly applied to land that could be described as "like a prairie, but with a lot of shrubs" or "like a savanna, but with shrubs mostly displacing the savanna's trees." Such areas were not infrequent when the buffalo roamed here, but most have subsequently been lost to fire suppression, overgrazing

and development. "Of the 575 acres at Hickory Creek Barrens recognized as Illinois Nature Preserve, roughly 15 percent of it is barrens," estimates Marlin Bowles, plant conservation biologist at the Morton Arboretum. "The preserve still contains many plants thought to be typical of barrens, and it is undergoing a large-scale restoration to recover it from past overuse," he said.

Over thirty species of shrubs are identified with northern Illinois barrens, according to historical accounts dating back to 1821. Hickory Creek Barrens' most common residents — wafer ash, American plum, Iowa crabapple, sumac, gray dogwood and raspberry — arrange themselves as "colonies of shrubs scattered in grasslands," according to Dave Mauger, Will County's land management program coordinator. Seventy-nine percent of the preserve's 335 plant species are native.

Mapped loosely as 'timber' on the 1821 land survey, floodplain and upland forests punctuate Hickory Creek Barrens' gently rolling landscape. Kentucky coffee trees and paw paws grace its forested floodplains, shingle oaks rise above the barrens, and plants such as wild senna form a transition from barrens to savanna.

"We're going to try to maintain the barrens' character and structure through selective cutting and applying fire dynamics," explained Dr. Timothy Bell, a botany professor from Chicago State University who is currently conducting research on the Hickory Creek Barrens site. "We have transects covering the whole area north of the creek to see how management changes vegetation." Managers have also sought to restore lost native biodiversity by introducing the American hazelnut, and they expect to follow with other indigenous species.

Mauger reports that "the barrens community provides critical breeding habitat for three bird species of management concern: vesper sparrow, blue-winged warbler and Bell's vireo. These three species are all grassland-restricted birds and require shrubby vegetation for nesting." Coyote and milk snakes also call the barrens home.

Phyllis Schulte serves as volunteer steward at the Hickory Creek Barrens Nature Preserve. She spends each summer monitoring butterflies and bluebirds. Working with fellow volunteer Sally Wieclaw, Schulte documented sixteen species of butterflies in 2001. Coral hairstreaks and silvery checkerspots were among their most exciting finds. Monitoring the site's twenty-two prairie-based bluebird houses, Schulte and her colleague Linda Andrews counted thirty-three fledglings last year.

In August, the visitor can view as many as six thousand state-threatened savanna blazing star plants blooming in the preserve's hilltop prairie, as well as scores of butterflies and birds. Among the site's other notable summer bloomers are Michigan lilies and yellow gentians.

A 2.7-mile, multi-use paved trail meanders through the preserve's mixed hills and shaded valleys. Hiking, bicycling and rollerblading are permitted on this trail, but motorized vehicles, horses and pets are not. Benches are strategically placed along the trail, for musing or just to rest the legs. Parking, picnic pavilions (available for reservation) and composting toilets are available at both ends of the trail.

The Hickory Creek Barrens entrance showcases Historic Schmuhl School Museum, an eighty-two-year-old one-room schoolhouse that the New Lenox Historical Society plans to open to the public this fall. A bit further east and south of the entrance to Hickory Creek Barrens is Hickory Creek Junction, a site that offers an environmentally friendly, ADA-compliant playground with equipment made from 80 percent recycled plastic.

Volunteering affords wonderful opportunities to learn more about Hickory Creek Barrens. Monthly workdays take place from September through May. Call Volunteer Coordinator Renee Gauchat at (708) 479-2255 for specifics. Hickory Creek Barrens is open daily 8:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m. (April 1-October 31) and 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. (November 1-March 31) .

Reading
The I&M Canal, completed in 1848, established Chicago as one of the nation's greatest commercial centers by connecting, as explorer Louis Jolliet envisioned 175 years earlier, the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast. Travel the landscape, communities, and culture of the canal's more than 90 miles through the richly textured black and white images of Prairie Passage: The Illinois and Michigan Canal Corridor, with photographs by Edward Ranney and essays by Emily J. Harris (see Excerpts, CW, Spring '98). Published in 1998 by the University of Illinois Press, Prairie Passage can be ordered through your local bookseller, through the university's fulfillment service at (800) 537-5487, or through our link to Amazon.com.

Roaming
Bird Haven Greenhouse and Conservatory, (815) 741-7378, located on Gougar Street (west of Hickory Barrens and north of Route 30), provides three acres of vintage 1929 formal gardens and an outstanding Italian Renaissance greenhouse.

From the end of August through the beginning of September, hundreds of ruby-throated hummingbirds visit the gardens surrounding the greenhouse during their fall migration. The center is open every day 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Pilcher Park Nature Center, (815) 741-7277, located on Highland Park Drive (west of Hickory Barrens and north of Route 30), contains a comfy, indoor birding lounge; self-guided sensory trail; live animal exhibits and five miles of trails throughout its 640 acres — 50 of which are classified as high quality upland mesic forest. Every Wednesday from 8:00 to 9:30 a.m. (June-August), a naturalist offers free family hikes. The center is open 9:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m., June 1-August 31.

Old Plank Road Trail, south of Route 30 and the Hickory Creek Preserve, is a paved twenty-mile bicycle trail that traverses various terrains to connect Park Forest (Cook County) to Park Road (Joliet Township). Visitors can enter the trail off any crossroad and can park cars on the shoulder of the road in most places.

For someone looking to revel in history and ramble a bit further, the sixty-one-mile Illinois & Michigan Canal towpath-turned-trail, (815) 727-2323, offers gravel and paved trails from Channahon to LaSalle. This national heritage corridor connects numerous campgrounds and natural areas for the avid outdoors person. The I & M Canal Visitor Center, (815) 838-4830, and a branch of the Illinois State Museum, Lockport Gallery, (815) 838-7400 (both closed on Mondays), are in nearby Lockport. A four-mile portion of the I&M Canal trail runs from Joliet north to Lockport. The Lockport trailhead is at 2nd Street. Bikers and hikers usually park at the 10th Street parking lot.

Foraging
Lounge on the patio with some soft-serve ice cream at The Creamery, (815) 469-2107, in Frankfort at the intersection of Nebraska and LaGrange (Route 45). Specialties include large soft-serve ice cream cones ($1.65) and the ever-popular turtle sundae ($2.80).

Frankfort Country Market, in Frankfort at the corner of Kansas and Oak Street, offers select farm produce, herbs, assorted baked goods and gourmet products every Saturday, May 18-October 12, 8:00 a.m-12 noon.

J.T.'s Eatery, (815) 469-2013, in Frankfort on LaGrange Road, offers chalkboards for artistic patrons to explore their inner child before hunkering down for regionally oriented wraps ($5.50), fresh plank-grilled fish ($15), grilled panini sandwiches ($5.95) or spicy eggplant diablo ($5.25).

For early risers, Fleckenstein's Bakery, (708) 479-5256, further north on LaGrange Road in Mokena, has fresh cherry fritters (85¢), Boston cream donuts (69¢), and, every Thursday, baked apple dumplings ($1.49). Tasty turtle cheesecake cupcakes ($1.49) or cannoli ($1.89) will also tempt afternoon tastebuds.

Little Al's Bar & Grill, (708) 479-9813, in Mokena on Front Street, is a family-friendly '50s-style restaurant with Joey Burgers (hamburgers stuffed with bleu cheese, $3.60), Prince spaghetti day on Wednesdays ($4.50), and a monthly Sunday Steak Fry ($8.95).

Mindy's, (708) 479-4700, in Mokena on 191st St. & LaGrange Road, is the place for ribs ($15.50), as well as barbecued-everything-else! Hand-cut fries come with the generous rib platters while grilled vegetable sandwiches ($4.25) provide a lovely option to less carnivorous patrons.

Mokena French Market, in Mokena where Wolf Road intersects Front Street, offers fresh produce, flowers, art, baked goods, gourmet desserts, pastas and sauces every Saturday, from the first weekend of May through the last Saturday of October, 8:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.

Bedding Down
Camping is available at Martin Camp Park, (815) 726-3173, in Joliet, exit 34 off I-80. RV hook-ups are available for $24 per night and tent camping is $15 per night (for two people). Bed-and-breakfasts have yet to be established in this part of Will County, however national motel and hotel chains are readily available in nearby Joliet. Closest to Hickory Creek Barrens are: Wingate Inn, (815) 741-2100, $79 and Fairfield Inn — North, (800) 228-2800, $71.95. Mokena, located between

New Lenox and Frankfort, has a Super 8 Motel, (708) 479-7808, $58-$77.

Events
Sundays, June 16 — Aug. 25, Concerts on the Green
Breiden's Green in Frankfort (815) 469-3356.

Labor Day weekend — Aug. 31-Sept. 2, Fall Festival
Frankfort, (815) 469-3356. Features 300 crafters and artists, a community parade (Sunday), carnival, food and live entertainment.

— April Anderson