The Elmhurst Great Western Prairie

In order to manage the prairie, the Elmhurst Great Western Prairie was first burned in 1977 and almost every year since. The burn is conducted by interested citizens and students with the assistance of the Elmhurst Fire Department. For further information regarding the Elmhurst Great Western Prairie, please call the Elmhurst Park District horticulturist at (630)993-8909.

Elmhurst Great Western Prairie Workdays

• August 21, 9 a.m. at Berkley and Prairie Path Lane
• September 18, 9 a.m. at Berkley and Prairie Path Lane
• October 16, 9 a.m. at Berkley and Prairie Path Lane
• November 20, 9 a.m. at Berkley and Prairie Path Lane

Welcome

Take some time to discover the Elmhurst Great Western Prairie located within Wild Meadows Trace just north of the Prairie Path between Spring Road and Salt Creek. This area is the oldest living environment in Elmhurst. Left by chance, the existence of the prairie adds a very special ecological dimension to the community.

Native prairie is a distinctive landscape which is rapidly disappearing from northeastern Illinois. The Elmhurst Great Western Prairie is one of only a few prairie remnants remaining along the length of the Illinois Prairie Path. The prairie is many things - a remnant of the pre-settlement landscape, a unique ecosystem that contains many special plants, a visual contrast to lawns and tree-lined streets, a living museum and a constant reminder that Illinois is "The Prairie State." Stop by the Wilder Administrative Office for the new Elmhurst Great Western Prairie Brochure. Also available is a detailed, plant list which identifies many plants including those currently found on site and those that will be planted in the future.

A display case near Berkley Avenue at the Prairie Path displays current information regarding the Elmhurst Great Western Prairie - its plants and other items. Adjacent to the display case is an interpretive garden containing approximately 30 prairie plant species.

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Location

Elmhurst's virgin prairie remnant is a six-acre strip adjacent to and north of the Illinois Prairie Path. Currently, this property is owned and maintained by the Elmhurst Park District. Running parallel to the Illinois Prairie Path is Elmhurst Park District's Wild Meadows Trace.

This land was too narrow to be of commercial value, but it is home to the prairie we know today. It is bounded by Spring Road on the east; Salt Creek on the west; the abandoned right-of-way of the Chicago Great Western Railway on the north; and the abandoned right-of-way of the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin Railway (now known as the Illinois Prairie Path) on the south.

Click here to view a map of the Elmhurst Great Western Prairie.

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Interpretive Prairie Garden

For a good introduction to the Elmhurst Great Western Prairie, stop by the Interpretive Garden, located at Berkley and the Prairie Path. The attractively labeled plants in the Interpretive Garden are the same as those found throughout the Elmhurst prairie.

The Elmhurst prairie is one of only a few original prairies remaining along the entire length of the Illinois Prairie Path. It is a distinctive landscape which includes some 85 prairie species, according to a recent count. The true prairie is a complex mixture of native perennial plants well suited to the extremes of wet, dry, heat and cold typical of our climate, but poorly suited to the disturbance of the shovel or the plow.

Since a weed is defined as a plant out of place, most weeds in the prairie are European or Asian in origin or are woody American plants. Except in the Elmhurst Great Western Prairie, the plants on both sides of the Path were primarily introduced in the last 50 years, or are woody native plants which have taken over the former prairie.

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The History

What is the oldest thing in Elmhurst? It's not someone's home or a commercial building. Or even an early elm tree. It's a long strip of prairie, saved by accident and circumstance.

Before Elmhurst was founded in 1827, the Illinois landscape was mostly prairie, and the vistas had changed little for thousands of years. Even 50 years ago, much was still undisturbed. Today, the development of residential and commercial areas in our town have transformed the landscape, yet we are lucky to discover that "a piece of the past" still remains.

"Prairie" was the name given to the vast open lands which awed the French explorers when they first visited "The Illinois Country" in the seventeenth century. In French, "prairie" means meadow, the only word they had to describe our vast grasslands. The plants they saw were perennial native grasses and flowering plants. The only trees or woody plants at that time were along the edges of rivers, streams and ponds.

Once, most of the northern two-thirds of Illinois was prairie. Now far less than one percent of that original grassland remains. Elmhurst has a rare and unique opportunity to maintain and display a prairie in otherwise developed surroundings, thereby preserving a living time capsule of Illinois in its original state.

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Prairie Preservation in Elmhurst

Interest in preserving the Elmhurst Great Western Prairie has been increasing in recent years, thanks to a growing number of local conservationists who are volunteering their time and expertise.

The Elmhurst Park District has provided the coordination for preservation efforts through the establishment of a Prairie Management Advisory Commission which serves as an advisory group on all matters concerning the management and restoration of the prairie. Commission members also act as volunteers and supervisors for projects such as woody growth removal, clean-ups, prairie burns, seed collection and establishment of prairie plants.

The Elmhurst Great Western Prairie is considered a "jewel of the Elmhurst Park District." To preserve this local treasure and ensure its future existence, a comprehensive management plan is being implemented to guide preservation and restoration efforts, to increase public awareness, and to ensure continued progress toward reestablishment of the historic appearance of the prairie.

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Prairie Public Awareness Programs

To increase public understanding and enjoyment of the prairie, the Elmhurst Park District and the Prairie Management Advisory Commission provide a number of ongoing informational programs. These programs include tours, slide presentations, a public display case at Berkley Avenue and the Prairie Path, and programs for school children in the classroom.

We invite you to learn more about the Elmhurst Great Western Prairie by visiting it, reading more about it, and helping us spread the word about this local treasure to your friends and neighbors.

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Value of Natural Prairies

• As a landscape dominated by unknown grasses, it serves as visual contrast to lawns and tree-lined streets.


• As an example of prairie near the Prairie Path, it displays many native plants: shooting star, spiderwort and the nodding wild onion of spring and summer; the asters and coneflowers of late summer and fall; the compass plant with its tough leaves pointing north and south; the big bluestem and Indian grasses with their blades and flowers reaching overhead.


• It is a place in the midst of our schools and homes to teach preservation and the values of the natural world.


• One of the outstanding features of the prairie is its diversity. Every square yard is different from every other. It is an archetype of the world's ecosystems and their complexities.


• As a remnant of the pre settlement historical landscape and a living plant museum, this land is a nearby reminder that Illinois is the Prairie State.

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Prairie Burns and Other Management Tools

In order to manage the prairie, the Elmhurst Prairie was first burned in 1977 and almost every year since. The burn is conducted by interested citizens and students with the assistance of the Elmhurst Fire Department.

The original prairies were stable ecosystems maintained primarily by fire, set either by lightning strikes or by Native Americans driving game. Prairie fires, which sweep quickly over the ground, do not harm the deeply rooted prairie plants but destroy the bark and wood of the trees and shrubs which are not part of the prairie ecosystem. Fire renews the soil by returning nutrients in the form of ash. Prairie animals escape the fire by running, flying or retreating to their burrows. Within a few weeks after the burn, the well established prairie plants begin to emerge from the ground once more.

Other prairie management practices include cutting woody growth and spreading high quality native seeds to add more kinds of plants to the varieties that have always been there. Seedlings started in the Elmhurst Park District greenhouse are planted each year to expand and enhance the native species already growing. Prairie plant growth and brush removal are also monitored.

Why Burn?

Before European settlement, prairies were the dominant landscape of Illinois for thousands of years. Fires, whether set by lightning or Native Americans, helped maintain the prairies. Sweeping across the landscape, the fires burn quickly through the dead growth from previous years. The living portion of the prairie plants is below ground, protected from harsh winters as well as fire.

• With a burn, the ground is opened up, stimulating new growth.


• With a burn, nutrients are returned to the soil, stimulating new growth.


• Without a burn, thatch builds up, suppressing some prairie plants


• Without a burn, shrubs and small trees spring up, choking out the prairie plants.

How much is burned?

The Elmhurst Great Western Prairie is eight blocks long, from Spring Road to Salt Creek. Four of those blocks are burned every year. The first planned burn was in the late 1970s.

When is the burn, and how often?

Yearly on a Sunday afternoon in late March or early April. The burn is managed by volunteers with the cooperation of the Elmhurst Fire Department and the Elmhurst Park District.

Why the name “Elmhurst Great Western Prairie”?

Two railroads, the Chicago Great Western and Chicago, Aurora, and Elgin ran parallel through Elmhurst. The prairie lies between the two, but more on the former right of way of the Great Western, and is the only place in the Western Suburbs with preserved native prairie. The land is controlled by the Elmhurst Park District as part of Wild Meadows Trace. The right of way of the Chicago, Aurora, and Elgin is now occupied by the Illinois Prairie Path.

The early Europeans saw a landscape very different from the present, and named it prairie, after the French word for meadow. Their observations, and the records of surveyors, documented that the northern two thirds of Illinois and all of DuPage County were primarily prairie. Those prairies are now the corn and soybean fields, towns, and housing developments of, The Prairie State. Burns on the Elmhurst Great Western Prairie help maintain the heritage of Illinois.

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Volunteers

Volunteers are needed to help realize our prairie management and education goals. If restoring a part of our past to its former beauty and increasing its usefulness in the present is of interest to you, please contact the Elmhurst Park District volunteer coordinator at (630) 993-8925.

Workdays are generally scheduled for the third Saturday of each month. Volunteers meet at the information case at Berkley and the Prairie Path at 9 a.m. Participants should bring gloves and paper grocery bags for seeds and wear work clothes. Pruning shears can be helpful for some seeds and weeds

Elmhurst Great Western Prairie Workdays

• August 21, 9 a.m. at Berkley and Prairie Path Lane
• September 18, 9 a.m. at Berkley and Prairie Path Lane
• October 16, 9 a.m. at Berkley and Prairie Path Lane
• November 20, 9 a.m. at Berkley and Prairie Path Lane

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