Hugging the northeastern border of Shabbona Lake State Park is Chief Shabbona Forest Preserve, once home to the namesake and his Potawatomi tribe. Three enclosed shelters with wood stoves host friend and family gatherings throughout the year. From north to south, along its one mile, 88-acre stretch, this preserve transforms from an Oak savanna to a Sugar Maple dominated forest. One of only a few sites in northern Illinois where the rare Oval ladies’–tresses Orchid has been observed, this gently rolling woodland also contains uncommon ferns and milkweeds, as well as a few of DeKalb County’s last original Butternut trees that haven’t yet succumbed to the Sirococcus virus. The increasingly uncommon Red-headed Woodpecker can be seen here on occasion, and the “crow sized” Pileated Woodpecker has been recently sighted at this preserve.
Hugging the northeastern border of Shabbona Lake State Park is Chief Shabbona Forest Preserve, once home to the namesake and his Potawatomi tribe. Three enclosed shelters with wood stoves host friend and family gatherings throughout the year. From north to south, along its one mile, 88-acre stretch, this preserve transforms from an Oak savanna to a Sugar Maple dominated forest. One of only a few sites in northern Illinois where the rare Oval ladies’–tresses Orchid has been observed, this gently rolling woodland also contains uncommon ferns and milkweeds, as well as a few of DeKalb County’s last original Butternut trees that haven’t yet succumbed to the Sirococcus virus. The increasingly uncommon Red-headed Woodpecker can be seen here on occasion, and the “crow sized” Pileated Woodpecker has been recently sighted at this preserve.
