Volo Bog State Natural Area hike

Volo Bog State Natural Area offers a hilly trek through various ecosystems. Cyrus Mark, the first director of the Illinois Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, managed a fund-raising campaign in 1958 that collected $40,000 in donations from school children, groups, and individuals for the purchase of the 47.5-acre bog. The land was deeded to the University of Illinois which retained ownership until 1970 when it was dedicated as an Illinois Nature Preserve and three years later was registered as a National Natural Landmark with the U.S. Department of the Interior. More than 1,100 additional acres of land have been purchased to protect and enlarge the state preserve, which now includes marshes, prairie restoration areas, woodlands and two other bogs. Here we traverse the floating walkway as we cross over an edge of this quaking bog, the only "quaking" bog in Illinois to have an open water center. This area is an important migratory stopover for songbirds, waterfowl and wading birds, including green-backed herons, cross-bills and sandhill cranes. Volo Bog also shelters a variety of orchids, such as delicate grass pink and rose pogonia.


The tall grass prairie to the right of the trail exceeds 6 feet in height...


... and when you step into the grass it is like being in an ocean of grass. Illinois is "the prairie state" and this replicates what much of Illinois once looked like.


Volo Bog is significant in that it exhibits all stages of bog succession. A floating mat of sphagnum moss, cattails and sedges surrounds an open pool of water in the center of the bog. As substrate material thickens, a shrub community dominated by poison sumac and leatherleaf invades the mat. This is eventually replaced by tamarack forest. Surrounding this forest is a second, more extensive shrub zone which abruptly ends and becomes a marsh/sedge meadow community. This photo shows the watery bog, the cattails, and the forest in the background.


Information taken from the Illinois DNR website.