Includes index

Introduction: A brief natural history of Illinois -- How to use this book -- I. North -- Apple River Canyon State Park -- Ayers Sand Prairie -- Bluff Spring Fen -- Gensburg-Markham Prairie Nature Preserve -- Glacial Park Conservation Area -- Goose Lake Prairie State Park -- Green River State Wildlife Area -- Harlem Hills Nature Preserve -- Illinois Beach State Park -- Matthiessen State Park -- Mississippi Palisades State Park -- Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie -- Moraine Hills State Park -- Nachusa Grasslands -- Rollins Savanna Forest Preserve -- Spring Lake Wildlife Conservation Area -- Starved Rock State Park -- Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge -- Volo Bog State Natural Area -- II. Central -- Emiquon Preserve -- Forest Park Nature Preserve -- Funks Grove -- Kankakee Sands -- Ballard Nature Center -- Along the Vermilion and Wabash Rivers -- Lodge County Park -- Pere Marquette State Park & the Lower Illinois River Valley -- Loda cemetery prairie nature preserve -- Revis Hill Prairie Nature Preserve -- Prairie Ridge State Natural Area & Illinois Audubon Sanctuaries -- Robert Allerton Park -- Mason County Sand Areas -- III. South -- Bell Smith Springs Recreational Area -- Cache River Ecosystem -- Cedar Lake -- Devil's Kitchen Lake-Rocky Bluff Trail -- Ferne Clyffe State Park -- Fults Hill Prairie Nature Preserve -- Garden of the Gods Recreation Area -- Giant City State Park-Trillium Trail -- Horseshoe Lake Conservation Area -- La Rue Swamp/Pine Hills Research Natural Area -- Little Grand Canyon -- Mermet Lake Conservation Area -- Piney Creek Ravine Nature Preserve -- Rim Rock/Pounds Hollow -- Simpson Township Barrens Natural Area -- Trail of Tears State Forest -- War Bluff Valley Audubon Sanctuary -- Epilogue: Your own backyard -- Appendix A: Directions to sites -- Appendix B: Natural divisions of Illinois