Lake County
Natural Areas Guide
Other Places
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Volo Bog State Natural Area
Interesting
Information- Is Illinois' only open water bog.
- The area was dedicated as a nature preserve in 1970, after heroic citizens formed "Save the Volo Bog" committee to rescue the area from developers.
- 6,000 years ago the bog was a 50-acre lake, but is now much smaller. The ever accumulating sphagnum moss mat will continue to fill in the bog til there is no longer open water at all. This is a natural process.
- The area has been invaded in some places by glossy buckthorn and purple loosestrife. An exotic beetle species was introduced to control the puple loosestrife as well, somewhat controversial I would think.
Location
Volo |
Size
1,100 acres |
TerrainThe bog has is surrounded by a marshy area, which grades into shrubs, then tamarack forest, another shrub layer, then the sphagnum mat which is next to the open water of the acidic bog. The rest of the area consists of woodlands and prairie.
Trails
3.25 miles
Links
DNR Site
Further Insights
The visitor's center is very nice and has a cool exhibit
detailing the wildlife and natural history of the area. It is actually the case that Volo Bog receives a bit of groundwater input.
By definition, the only water source of a bog is rain and runoff, so some people would call it a "poor fen". Even so, it has most
other characteristics of a bog and it is really kind of neat to have an area like this in Illinois, since most bogs occur far north
of here.
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