Places to Explore / Illinois

Des Plaines Dolomite Prairies

Wide prairie skies, summer flowers, and butterflies in a landscape shaped by shallow soils and dolomite bedrock.

Land and Water Reserve · Will County, IllinoisDolomite prairie · Sedge meadow · GrasslandPhotographs from Brian’s past visits
Green prairie vegetation beneath a broad cloudy sky at Des Plaines Dolomite Prairies, Illinois.
Open dolomite prairie

A rare Illinois landscape

Prairie close to the bedrock

The full name is Des Plaines Dolomite Prairies Land and Water Reserve. This 575-acre IDNR property in Will County protects dry-to-wet dolomite prairie, sedge meadow, and other grassland communities within the Des Plaines Conservation Area.

Thin soil above dolomite bedrock helps shape a distinctive plant community. The reserve is recognized on the Illinois Natural Areas Inventory for its high-quality natural communities.

In these photographs, broad views of the prairie give way to individual flower spikes, delicate pea blossoms, and papery seed clusters.

An open green prairie stretching toward a distant tree line at Des Plaines Dolomite Prairies, Illinois.
Prairie beneath summer clouds
A Black Swallowtail with yellow markings visiting purple flowers at Des Plaines Dolomite Prairies, Illinois.
Black Swallowtail

Summer details

Flowers, seeds, and visiting butterflies

Monarch and Black Swallowtail photographs bring movement and color to this collection. Closer views show Illinois Tick Trefoil, French Grass, Fuzzy Bean, and the winged seeds of Wafer Ash.

The photographs document the plants encountered during these visits, including Common Mullein, Canada Thistle, and other plants alongside the prairie scenes. They are a record of what caught my eye, rather than a complete plant inventory.

Wildlife and flowering conditions vary with the season. These photographs are from past visits.

From the photo archive

Des Plaines Dolomite Prairies in photographs

Click a photograph to open the slideshow. Browse with the arrows, or swipe on a phone. Additional photographs expand into the same gallery.

Green prairie vegetation beneath a broad cloudy sky at Des Plaines Dolomite Prairies, Illinois.
Open dolomite prairie
A pale gravel route beneath an arching canopy of green trees at Des Plaines Dolomite Prairies, Illinois.
Wooded approach
A Monarch resting on purple flowers at Des Plaines Dolomite Prairies, Illinois.
Monarch
A Black Swallowtail with yellow markings visiting purple flowers at Des Plaines Dolomite Prairies, Illinois.
Black Swallowtail
A slender spike of pale pink Illinois Tick Trefoil flowers at Des Plaines Dolomite Prairies, Illinois.
Illinois Tick Trefoil
A spike of small pale purple French Grass flowers against green leaves at Des Plaines Dolomite Prairies, Illinois.
French Grass
A close view of a pale pink Fuzzy Bean flower at Des Plaines Dolomite Prairies, Illinois.
Fuzzy Bean flower
Clusters of pale winged Wafer Ash seeds hanging among leaves at Des Plaines Dolomite Prairies, Illinois.
Wafer Ash seed clusters
View 10 more photographs
An open green prairie stretching toward a distant tree line at Des Plaines Dolomite Prairies, Illinois.
Prairie beneath summer clouds
Bright yellow star-shaped St. John’s-wort flowers at Des Plaines Dolomite Prairies, Illinois.
St. John’s-wort
Pink Narrow-leaved Everlasting Pea flowers among green foliage at Des Plaines Dolomite Prairies, Illinois.
Narrow-leaved Everlasting Pea
A small yellow Low Hop Clover flower head above trifoliate leaves at Des Plaines Dolomite Prairies, Illinois.
Low Hop Clover
Green three-part Fuzzy Bean leaves spreading across low vegetation at Des Plaines Dolomite Prairies, Illinois.
Fuzzy Bean leaves
Purple French Grass flower spikes rising through a leafy patch at Des Plaines Dolomite Prairies, Illinois.
French Grass in bloom
A close view of purple French Grass flowers along an upright spike at Des Plaines Dolomite Prairies, Illinois.
French Grass flower detail
Yellow Common Mullein flowers opening on a woolly upright spike at Des Plaines Dolomite Prairies, Illinois.
Common Mullein
Purple Canada Thistle flowers scattered across open vegetation at Des Plaines Dolomite Prairies, Illinois.
Canada Thistle patch
A dark Black Swallowtail with pale spots spreading its wings at Des Plaines Dolomite Prairies, Illinois.
Black Swallowtail with open wings

Plan a visit

Visiting the reserve

Location

The reserve is in Will County, within the Des Plaines Conservation Area near the Kankakee and Des Plaines rivers. Use the official IDNR reserve listing and its map link to plan your route.

Access

IDNR lists the reserve as open to the public, with no maintained trails. The wooded route shown in this collection should not be taken as a maintained trail map for the reserve.

Explore thoughtfully

Watch your footing, avoid trampling vegetation, and leave flowers and seed heads where they grow. A camera offers a way to bring home the details.

Before heading out

Check current access guidance with IDNR and follow posted signs. Bring water and prepare for sun and changing weather in the open prairie.

Source and visitor information: Illinois DNR — Des Plaines Dolomite Prairies Land and Water Reserve.

Photographs by Brian Woolman / Where’s Wildlife.

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