Illinois/Indiana Prairies Ecoregion
Ecoregions: Illinois/Indiana Prairies
Illinois/Indiana Prairies Ecoregion, shown as two brown areas
Topography in the Illinois/Indiana Prairies ecoregion is gently undulating, with highly organic and very fertile soils. These characteristics made it highly desirable for agriculture which, beginning in the 1800s, has replaced almost all of the original prairie and oak-hickory forest. Most of the remaining woodlands are adjacent to watercourses. These rivers and streams are relatively slow-flowing with silt bottoms, and warm in the summer. They are often ditched and laden with agricultural runoff and suspended sediment. Source: US EPA
This area was so thoroughly converted to agriculture that relatively few natural areas remain open to the public. Your best bets may be two Indiana DNR Game Bird Management Areas in Benton County that are open to the public from January through September:
Goose Creek [pdf]
Pine Creek [pdf]
There's also Smith Cemetery Nature Preserve in Vermillion County, which may or may not fall within the boundary of this ecoregion - I can't tell. Either way, it's a small but fascinating remnant of the tallgrass prairie that used to cover millions of acres. Mid to late summer is optimal.
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Mike Habeck