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Pembroke SavannaNature PreserveHopkins Park, Illinois

Pembroke Savanna
Nature Preserve

Hopkins Park, Illinois

  • Author: Mike MacDonald
  • Date Posted: Jun 1, 2016
  • Category:

Get Directions to Pembroke Savanna

Life abounds under the dome of black oaks of this rare sand savanna. From glass lizards and six-foot snakes to enigmatic gophers and their omnipresent mounds, to flowers of all fashions, this is not a refuge—this is paradise.

In a shining spot under the open canopy of the black oaks, western sunflowers smile in the September sun at Pembroke Savanna.

In a shining spot under the open canopy of the black oaks, western sunflowers smile in the September sun at Pembroke Savanna.

Features:

  • Beautiful, open sand (black oak) savanna
  • Glass lizards, bullsnakes, and the plains pocket gopher

Highlights:

  • Spring: Grand display of birdfoot violet
  • Late August: Floral show of rough blazing star

Best Times to Visit:

  • May through September for wildflowers and wildlife
  • Fall for both the changing color of the trees and the savanna plants

Mike’s Thoughts: Pembroke Savanna is one of the highest-quality preserves in the state. Classified as a sand savanna, it is among the world’s rarest ecosystems, featuring a wide variety of threatened and endangered plant species that thrive under a light-sharing canopy of black oaks. Throughout the season, flowers of all colors and compositions are continuously in bloom, a paradise to behold. Given its snakes and all its splendor, Pembroke Savanna may very well be the Garden of Eden.

Notes: The parking area is a small gravel lot off the side of the road. There is only room for two cars, so be thoughtful.

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