Lusk Creek Canyon is the name of a

canyon A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...

located within the

Lusk Creek Wilderness The Lusk Creek Wilderness is a parcel of land listed as a Wilderness Area of the United States. It is located within the Shawnee National Forest in Pope County, Illinois. The nearest town of any size is Eddyville, Illinois. It includes the Lu ...

Area of the Shawnee National Forest in Pope County,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. The area is a large gorge formed by the erosion of Pennsylvanian

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

around a large horseshoe bend in the creek. It contains plants such as fan leafed clubmoss, cinnamon fern, royal fern as well as ten endangered or threatened plant species. It was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1980.

References

External links

National Natural Landmark: Lusk Creek CanyonShawnee National Forest
Lusk Creek Canyon - Indian Kitchen Panorama

Landforms of Illinois Landforms of Pope County, Illinois National Natural Landmarks in Illinois Canyons and gorges of the United States {{PopeCountyIL-geo-stub