Sauk Trail Woods are located within the
Cook County Forest Preserves
The Forest Preserve District of Cook County is a governmental commission in Cook County, Illinois, that owns and manages a network of open spaces, containing forest, prairie, wetland, streams, and lakes, that are mostly set aside as natural area ...
in
Park Forest and
Chicago Heights
Chicago Heights is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 27,480 at the 2020 census. In earlier years, Chicago Heights was nicknamed "The Crossroads of the Nation". Currently, it is nicknamed "The Heights".
Geograp ...
,
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 ...
. They are part of the Thorn Creek Trail System. They contain miles of paved bike trails and off-trail dirt paths.
Sauk Trail Woods contains
Sauk Lake
Sauk Lake (also known as Sauk Trail Lake) is a small, freshwater lake located in Cook County, Illinois, between the municipalities of Park Forest, Illinois and Chicago Heights, Illinois. It is an enlarged portion of Thorn Creek created by a dam on ...
and
Thorn Creek
Thorn Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 19, 2011 tributary of the Little Calumet River that travels through Will County, Illinois, Will and Cook County, Illin ...
. The topography is fairly hilly, featuring ravines and steep, eroded hillsides. The elevation is the highest on the outskirts of the preserve. Then, as one goes into the Thorn Creek River Valley, you descend steep hills and sandy bluffs. There is an abundance of ravines that have been cut by creeks flowing into the valley. Many of the ravines are surprisingly deep near the bottom of the valley. Most of the Sauk Trail Woods Preserve is covered by dense woods, however there are some open prairie areas. In the northwest section of the woods, there is a fairly large marsh, that is surrounded by thick pampas grass and shallow bogs.
The woods are located on the
Valparaiso Moraine
The Valparaiso Moraine is a recessional moraine (a land form left by receding glaciers) that forms an immense U around the southern Lake Michigan basin in North America. It is the longest moraine. It is a band of hilly terrain composed of gla ...
, which accounts for the hilliness of the area. There are many parking lots with pavilions situated throughout the preserve.
See also
*
North Creek Woods
The North Creek Woods or North Creek Meadow is located within the Cook County Forest Preserves in Lansing, Illinois. The woods are connected to the other forest preserves of the Thorn Creek Trailsystem. They are named after North Creek, a tributary ...
*
Cook County Forest Preserves
The Forest Preserve District of Cook County is a governmental commission in Cook County, Illinois, that owns and manages a network of open spaces, containing forest, prairie, wetland, streams, and lakes, that are mostly set aside as natural area ...
*
Ned Brown Forest Preserve
The Ned Brown Forest Preserve, popularly known as Busse Woods, adjoining Elk Grove Village and Schaumburg in Illinois, is a unit of the Cook County Forest Preserve system. It is named after Edward "Ned" Eagle Brown. A section of the northeast ...
References
External links
*http://www.fpdcc.com/
Forests of Illinois
Nature reserves in Illinois
Protected areas of Cook County, Illinois
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