There was a burn here recently, like many other local haunts. Deep in the woods, near the fairy ponds, singed mounds of grass look like modern photosynthetic stromatolites (with plant, not cyanobacteria!). It was a good burn season, or so went the public lands stewardship chatter.
We came up through the south end of Burnham Prairie, over several sets of railroad tracks. There was no parking lot; it just seemed like a close spot based on Google Maps.
We found a recent burn by Com Ed,
and skirted the wetlands of the Illinois State Nature Preserve.
We turned back and drove up to the north end of Burnham Prairie, well-hidden in the furthest reaches of residential Burnham, abutting the Grand Calumet River.
As we approached the slag prairie I realized I’d forgotten how much like Mars this slag is: everything is very stunted (very clear in cottonwoods); spotted knapweed is a champ and brings all the pollinators to the yard; there are a few Liatris, lots of whorled milkweed, some sumac; mosses making the barrens less barren.
Check out another visit to the same site a few years ago: Burnham Prairie, IL • March 2016
A recent controlled burn here has left a patchwork of new growth of sedges, rushes, and grasses, which will be punctuated with fireworks of colorful flowers later in the year.
other fun finds included:
a well supported bench on high – probably useful for waterfowl hunting.
a spontaneous terrarium.
nice views.
it blows my mind that in the midst of industrial development over the past century, somehow, greater than zero acres of remnant dune and swale are going strong — ‘wastelands’ between rail yards and steel mills …
Calumet Region Adventure Club 