"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." -- John Muir
White Pines Forest State Park
Mt. Morris, Illinois, October 5, 2011
| Razor Back Trail |
|
Located in the heart of the Rock River valley, the Spring and Pine creeks meander along moss covered, limestone cliffs within this 385-acre park. With a view to preserving Illinois' last stand of natural white pines and the most southern stand of white pines in the United States, a movement was started in the early part of the 20th Century to set the area aside as a state park. Through efforts of Ogle County nature lovers, a bill appropriating $30,000 for purchase of land was passed by the legislature in 1903, but the measure was vetoed. In 1927, however, they had more success, and the forest was acquired. |
| |
|
The Driftless Area occupies a physiographically unique part of the state that escaped Pleistocene glaciation. The area is characterized by rolling hills and a dissected pattern of wooded ridges and includes such prominent features as canyons, ravines, bluffs, and palisades. |
| |
|
Having escaped the leveling effect of continental glaciers, the ancient land surface has been exposed to essentially continuous weathering and erosion. Several thousand feet of bedrock strata may have been removed during an overall span of some 243 million years. This erosion carved a series of deep valleys into the gently tilted bedrock formations with the Mississippi River Valley draining the entire region. |
| |
|
When early settlers arrived, they found this 700-acre forest of untouched pine extending for 1/4 mile along the east bank of Pine Creek. |
| |
Next Page »
Return to My Travels
