Sand dunes in Will County! This rare geologic occurrence at the District's 315-acre Braidwood Dunes and Savanna Nature Preserve brings with it many plants and animals found nowhere else in Will County. Carefully prescribed burns have helped restore this black oak and savanna prairie by opening up the woodlands to native prairie grasses.

The site was dedicated as a State Nature Preserve in 1981 (with additions in 1983 and 2001) due to its rare plant communities and habitat diversity. Because of these sensitive natural resources, dogs are not allowed in the preserve.

Look for blooming cacti, glass lizards, hognose snakes, and an abundance of butterflies in autumn as you walk the half-mile loop nature trail through sand dunes, open prairie, savanna, and then wetland.

From 2011 through 2015, the District is performing a habitat restoration project at the preserve. View more information about this project.

Photographs Courtesy of Glenn P. Knoblock