State guide

Illinois Nature Guide

Illinois sits at the heart of the tallgrass prairie, where the eastern hardwood forest meets the great central grasslands and the Mississippi and Illinois river flyways funnel migration through the state. From the Lake Michigan shoreline at Chicago — a famous spring migrant trap — to the cypress swamps of the Cache River in the far southern tip locals call 'Little Egypt,' the state spans USDA zones 5b through 7a and a nature calendar built on prairie, big rivers, and the rhythm of a humid continental climate.