This is a truly remarkable Wildlife Sanctuary about twenty minutes from Peoria, IL. It's out in the middle of...well...the prairie. The name is accurate. This park encompasses two thousand (!) acres. 95% of the animal areas are perfectly accurate, as it holds only animals that either live or once lived in the area. Enclosures are basically fencing around their natural habitat- no concrete grottoes here!
The crown jewel is a pasture that numbers in the several hundreds of acres. It contains herds of North American bison, Elk, and White-tailed deer. There is a trail for viewing these animals as well as an observation deck above the lake that serves as their water source and the dirt the bison wallow in. They seem to stay within a half mile or so of the deck, so the viewing is fantastic. The only thing unnatural other than the deck is the fence surrounding this enormous expanse of land.
In the forest there are two other areas of interest. One is a huge hardwood valley and a bit of pasture for the park's black bears. This area is several acres contained by a fence. There are two elevated walkways above the valley and one observation deck next to the pasture for viewing these creatures in their natural habitats.
Further into the forest is another hardwood valley that covers several acres. It's smaller than the one for the bears, but it's still plenty of room for two adult mountain lions (they behave as a breeding pair, from what I can see) and a few bobcats (separated from the cougars, of course). Again, only fencing keeping them in, and elevated walkways from which to view them.
Further still is a hidden lake containing countless geese and ducks.
The park has a small section of forest set aside for non-aquatic birds. It's a typical outdoor aviary. Large areas for the birds, but they can't fly away. It also has exhibits with limited viewing for wolves, coyotes, and foxes. These areas are so large that the canines stay away from the areas humans can get to. It makes for very limited glimpses of fur from afar.
There's a reptile exhibit, several hiking trails, pioneer houses with standard farm animals for the kids, gift shops, a restaurant, and several lakes for fishing. We pretty much skipped over all of that, as none of that is too exciting for us.
Basically, this is the best place around to see bison, elk, deer, mountain lions, bobcats, and black bears. The areas are huge, with 100% natural plants, and sparsely populated. These animals exhibit none of the insanity shown by large mammals in small zoo grottoes and paddocks. I doubt very much that they even realize they are in a glorified zoo.
Alas, it takes only about three hours to see the good parts in-depth, unless you want to hit that too-long trail and see the herds of hoofed beasts from every angle. Not exactly worth taking a vacation in this part of Illinois for, but if you find yourself driving through the Illinois countryside on Interstate 74, it's well worth seeing all of the animals that lived in Illinois until people hunted them to local extinction (there are no longer free bison, bears, or cougars here).
Photo album is here:
monomach/Wildlife Prairie Park - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
The crown jewel is a pasture that numbers in the several hundreds of acres. It contains herds of North American bison, Elk, and White-tailed deer. There is a trail for viewing these animals as well as an observation deck above the lake that serves as their water source and the dirt the bison wallow in. They seem to stay within a half mile or so of the deck, so the viewing is fantastic. The only thing unnatural other than the deck is the fence surrounding this enormous expanse of land.
In the forest there are two other areas of interest. One is a huge hardwood valley and a bit of pasture for the park's black bears. This area is several acres contained by a fence. There are two elevated walkways above the valley and one observation deck next to the pasture for viewing these creatures in their natural habitats.
Further into the forest is another hardwood valley that covers several acres. It's smaller than the one for the bears, but it's still plenty of room for two adult mountain lions (they behave as a breeding pair, from what I can see) and a few bobcats (separated from the cougars, of course). Again, only fencing keeping them in, and elevated walkways from which to view them.
Further still is a hidden lake containing countless geese and ducks.
The park has a small section of forest set aside for non-aquatic birds. It's a typical outdoor aviary. Large areas for the birds, but they can't fly away. It also has exhibits with limited viewing for wolves, coyotes, and foxes. These areas are so large that the canines stay away from the areas humans can get to. It makes for very limited glimpses of fur from afar.
There's a reptile exhibit, several hiking trails, pioneer houses with standard farm animals for the kids, gift shops, a restaurant, and several lakes for fishing. We pretty much skipped over all of that, as none of that is too exciting for us.
Basically, this is the best place around to see bison, elk, deer, mountain lions, bobcats, and black bears. The areas are huge, with 100% natural plants, and sparsely populated. These animals exhibit none of the insanity shown by large mammals in small zoo grottoes and paddocks. I doubt very much that they even realize they are in a glorified zoo.
Alas, it takes only about three hours to see the good parts in-depth, unless you want to hit that too-long trail and see the herds of hoofed beasts from every angle. Not exactly worth taking a vacation in this part of Illinois for, but if you find yourself driving through the Illinois countryside on Interstate 74, it's well worth seeing all of the animals that lived in Illinois until people hunted them to local extinction (there are no longer free bison, bears, or cougars here).
Photo album is here:
monomach/Wildlife Prairie Park - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
