[Music] [Music] there's more to make in County than Farmland a whole Conservation District more I'm we's Lacy Spence and in this episode of take a hike I'll share why you and your family should visit not just Rock Springs but the entire mon County Conservation District take a hike on on weiu is supported by R king America's Farm and Home Store camping supplies kayaks fishing and pet supplies and more find your store and more information regarding Roll King at rolling.com hi I'm Wei's Lacy Spence I've lived in Central Illinois my whole life and if there's one thing I've learned you don't have to go too far to find the beauty of the Great Outdoors come along with me as I visit a variety of parks and natural areas across Illinois and share why you should take a hike to each episode's location adventure and fun wait in take a hike the miniseries thank you so much for joining us for this episode of take a hike the many series I'm your host Lacy Spence and today we have taken the show on the road to the mon County Conservation District I have two fabulous guests with me today if you would like to go ahead and introduce yourself ladies I'll start with you yep my name is Ashton nun I'm the make I'm the marketing specialist at the mon County Conservation District wonderful and I'm Alicia Callison I am the director of program Services here at the district fantastic now I'm so excited to pick both of your brains about all things mccd and uh but first we are at Rock Springs today and uh we were talking a little bit before we got recording that this is one of the better known sites can you talk about um what the site is yeah so uh Rock Springs Conservation Area is probably our uh most well-known site here in mon County uh Rock Springs is located on the south side of decar Illinois uh and people tend to come here because this is uh one of our larger sites and also we have our Nature Center here so our Nature Center is I think a 20,000 ftot building where we've got exhibits and educational animals and uh photo galleries and cool things that people can come and check out uh it's also kind of the hub for all of our educational programs uh so it does tend to bring a lot of people to this site sure but it's not just Rock Springs uh we have uh some other areas throughout the county as well yeah would you like to kind of go into those sure yeah so um we have um Griswald conservation area which is in Blue Mound we have friends Creek Conservation area in the arenta area uh Sand Creek Conservation Area and Fort Daniel Conservation Area uh and Fort Daniel is uh kind of an exciting one for us right now because we just added roughly 200 acres to that site um so just in the past couple of years we've just about doubled the size of that site uh and we're very excited it's currently farmland and so soon we will be working on converting that acreage into native Prairie and Wetland and Oak Savannah habitat so it's very exciting out there right now wonderful yeah it sounds like you've got a lot of variety a lot of different sites to choose from if someone's looking to visit and we always like to hit why people should visit why they should take a hike and make the drive so can you kind of talk a little bit about um maybe what each of the sites has to offer we can start with Rock Springs though since we're that's where we're at today yeah so we do a lot of programming we do a lot of weekend programming um we have annual events we have fall events we have spring events we've got fundraising events in the fall and the spring so we have a little bit of everything to offer on top of some beautiful Trails out here um we do a lot of field trips mainly at this location since it is where our Nature Center is but we also travel and you know go to libraries we go to schools so we have a lot to offer here at Rock Springs I bet it's nice when you get to take things on the road too it is fun it is yeah I think we spend so much time here at Rock Springs so it's nice to go somewhere else and get a little bit of a change of scenery sometimes and uh I mean take the office with us and you get to talk about something that you love yes absolutely uh so let's talk Trails what kind of trails are there out here at Rock Springs um we have I want to say nine miles worth of trails here at Rock Springs um so we have uh varying difficulties if you're looking for something um that is flat and maybe a little bit more accessible if you want to take your bike out um we have our Rock Springs Fair viiew bike trail which is about two and a quarter miles from here to Fairview Park in Decor okay um and people love that one we have people out here walking and riding on that trail all the time um then we have some other trails that go uh a little bit farther into the forest and into the Prairie uh we have one called The River Trail which is about three miles and it's um hilly and it's a little more difficult and it takes you right along the river and it's absolutely beautiful and so where we're kind of camped out today um we've got this really nice Pond behind us um is there fishing or is this more of a conservation effort what what do we got we do allow fishing out here and we actually have trout season as well so the IDR does stock our ponds with trout a lot people get really excited for that but we just have this new kayak it's um Ada accessible it's a nice kayak launch that people come out they can kayak paddle board canoe kind of whatever they would like to do out here no that's awesome and so if I'm doing that um is there any sort of like reservation I need to make or can I just come out here and enjoy or yep so you are we welcome people to bring their own kayaks um their own paddle boards um we do sometimes offer um usually one week and a month during certain months we'll sometimes have canoe rentals and we'll have staff out here to rent canoes um but typically people can bring their own equipment out and they can just kind of use it at their Leisure awesome so we've covered the trails we've covered the pond is there anything else other than um we've also covered educational opportuni ities with your uh Nature Center and so kind of walk me through what can you see in expect to see inside of your Nature Center so our Nature Center um we have a few different exhibits that you can visit um one exhibit we just installed last year and it's kind of a history of the land that we manage here in this area starting in um early Native American times into the present day so how was the land used how did people um you know how did people work with the land and also a little bit of the history of the Conservation District itself uh and then as you get into the Nature Center more you can see some of our education animals we've got some turtles we've got a snake we've got some frogs uh we also have um our window on Wildlife which is uh a wildlife viewing window you can come and sit on a really comfy couch in the Nature Center uh and just observe the wildlife uh that comes up to the window we see all sorts of birds we see turkeys deer raccoons all sorts of really fun stuff there as well so um there's a lot to see and explore in the Nature Center it sounds like you need like a wildlife bingo card you can just kind of like Mark them off a good idea all I just took that into the back pocket feel free to put you know Lacy's nature Bingo on there that's fine uh and so another uh draw here you were telling me about um there's some trees that aren't actually native to Illinois can you talk about that yeah so we have um the locals around here called the Pine Forest okay they are from out west they are white and red Pines um the pine tree that is native to Illinois is the red cedar but these were planted a while ago um they're clearly not from this area they're very very tall we have a lot of people that come out and take family portraits out there we have a lot of weddings in the Pines it's just a very beautiful backdrop love it those trees were planted here before the district acquired the land um so it was one of those things too where we saw the value in it to bring people out to our sites and and have something really beautiful and Serene that people could come out and uh enjoy nature uh and people love it so much so while it's not native we do maintain it because it is such a a well-loved part of the community uh and it gets them out here and um then once they're here they can see you know here's what Illinois nature really looks like yeah and so what does conservation look like in a practical sense what are what are you kind of doing what are your efforts well most of the county is Farmland okay um so this is a very uh heavy agricultural area so when it comes to conservation a lot of the times we're not acquiring land that is Remnant or original um it has been converted at some point um so we we acquire a lot of Farmland a lot of Agriculture and so our efforts are really focused on restoration um how do we convert that Farmland um that you know was a monoculture of soy beans and corn how do we convert that back to uh you know a native Prairie or a wetland or a forest um so that's a lot of it is you know seeding and and um picking the right uh the right composition of you know plants and and uh and you know flowers that we want to bring here so we can attract the right wildlife and create suitable habitats uh so a lot of it really comes down to uh just restoring uh and then of course maintaining so uh we struggle with invasive species just like any organization like this does um and so we do a lot of um prescribed fire so in the uh spring and the fall we have um burn season uh where we burn our prairies and our forests uh in Cycles uh and then we also have um some really great volunteers that help us a lot with invasive species removal cutting down honeysuckle Autumn Olive and uh you know all of those fun things that we have to deal with so and that was going to be one of my next questions is if I'm somebody who loves the outdoors who wants to give back um what kind of ways can I do so is it you know just like a monetary type of thing or can I can I get my hands dirty a little bit of both yeah yeah so we have fundraising opportunities um but we also have a great volunteer base we have I think close to 200 volunteers but we have things as simple as Trail monitoring where you just go out and Hike the trails and anything you see report back to us a rough gig yeah right we've got volunteers that help us with our big special events that they come out and the volunteers help with you know they'll help the kids do pumpkin painting they'll help people load up into canoes we've got our um the ones that do natural resources with us that go out and help the guys and our natural resources team they help them collect seed and they help them do invasive removal so there's a little bit of something for everyone and if you love history they have um historic volunteers that they can come out and volunteer and show people through our historic sites awesome awesome so no shortage of ways to get involved uh sounds like there's always room for one more in the volunteer team uh and so let's kind of pivot and talk about some of the other sites too um what kind of opportunities or draws to those areas are there that's a great question um so I think each one of our other sites offers something uh that's unique okay uh in the county so uh for example Sand Creek uh is the only public equestrian trail that we have in mon County so we maintain the trails at Sand Creek so that they're 10 ft wide and 10 ft tall perfect for getting your horse uh down those trails and and going for a nice ride um friends Creek in the arenta area we have the only public Campground in mon County so if you are a camper um or you're looking for somewhere Scenic to visit uh you can come out and uh rent a camp SP a campsite uh and you can visit um friends Creek that way so um uh it's really beautiful out there and the the the uh the crew works really hard to keep it beautiful it's so nice we get a lot of our campers are very happy out there happy campers campers yeah um Fort Daniel is in the Long Creek area um and that's the site that um we just recently added about 200 acres to uh and so we're working on developing that and then Blue Mound um that is the uh people in Blue Mound they just call it the mound um we call it Griswald um but they call it the mound and it is uh one of the highest points in mon County which isn't really saying much because we're pretty flat here but um it is uh a glacial C so it's basically a big gravel pit that was dumped by a glacier uh you know a 100 thousand years ago or or something like that um and then we also have a few historic sites throughout the county as well so Oglesby mansion that has um some really important historic value there Governor Oglesby um was governor of Illinois multiple times he was a friend of Abraham Lincoln um it is a really beautiful historic home um we have a you know historic Schoolhouse at friends Creek and we have a historic home here at Rock Springs so um there's something unique I think at each one of our sites sure so for each of you do you all have a favorite spot of like before you leave mon County you have to see fill in the blank I like um Fort Daniel even before I worked for the mon County Conservation District uh my children and I would hike out at Fort Daniel a lot there's just some really gorgeous tra out there there's a little Ford that you can cross so my kids always had fun playing in the cek whenever we went down there yeah but that's my favorite spot for me that's a tough question um because there are so many really beautiful spots I think one of my favorite spots is at Sand Creek Conservation Area um there's a section of forest there that our natural resources team I mean they went to town on it getting the invasives out and opening up the forest floor and it's just absolutely beautiful um and a really good example of what uh one of our native oak oak Hickery forests might have looked like um presettlement um but then here at Rock Springs of course I have a lot of favorites here as well um and I do like to go sit by the Pine Forest even though it's not native I do I do love it it's just so beautiful well there's nothing wrong with you know having appreciation for different Landscapes I mean that's why we travel and that's why we tell people to take a hike because you know the site has definitely looked different than maybe where we've been in Northern Illinois or Southern Illinois so Illinois got a lot more diversity than people think and so we hope this show kind of you know showcases that uh so as we're heading towards our last couple of minutes before we transition uh I would love to ask just about a couple of activities you all can say yay or nay whether they're viable here uh birding yes yes uh bug bug finding bug exploring yes yes I didn't bother to learn the exact name of it because I don't like the creepy crawlies some people like to um are there any sort of maybe reptiles any uh lizards or herps that are around here uh so we see um in the spring we see all sorts of turtles that hang out here at this pond so this is a really good place to see um aquatic turtles um we do see a lot of snakes along our Trails as well um which we love snake people Snak but yeah we see blue racers rat snakes uh we've seen some hog noses so uh a a wide variety and then this spring we also kind of went out and explored a little bit and we found some small Mouse salamanders um so we do have uh some cool herps that are here too I have to crack up I don't know if you could hear it on her mic you said the hog noses she goes they're so cute they are they got those little turned up noses oh my goodness more power to you uh from where we are in Charleston um our Conservation Area has some um Indiana bats that kind of migrate over are there any bats here maybe not the Indiana bat but any bats frequent yeah um I don't know about Indiana bats for sure sure I don't know that we've had a survey here anytime recently um but definitely we have little brown bats we have big brown bats uh one day I rescued an Eastern red bat um from the bike trail so we've got Eastern Reds here as well um I think we have uh probably a few more species than that but those are the ones I know for sure we have sure uh kind of a random one geocaching do you know if anybody geocaches out here yes we do have um some caches here in the area if I'm a visitor um can you just kind of stress the importance of making sure um we respect the nature that we're not you know trampling things we stay on the trails that kind of stuff yes so that is very important because there are a lot of um small wild flowers that will grow alongside the trail especially in springtime the little spring beauties are little bitty so staying on trail is always important to keep those safe so other people can enjoy them when they come through as well um we always like to remind people to keep their pets on leash um we know that dogs love to run and we love to see them run they're so cute but there are people who are maybe afraid of dogs who have maybe not had great experiences and if there was an animal the dog we wouldn't want the safety of anything being compromised if a dog got off leash and were to chase something so just kind of remembering that Nature's there everything belongs in nature even a leaf that fell on the ground it has a purpose in nature and so we always and we stress the the old boy scout model leave no Trace right um so pack in what you pack out um we do have uh trash cans placed strategically along our Trails so please utilize them sure um you know we want to keep uh these spaces beautiful for years to come so that everyone can enjoy them not just us very well put all right so we are going to take a quick break we're going to transition and take a bit of a step back in time so don't go anywhere take a hike we'll be right back [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] and we are back we still have Alicia here with us and she's going to be telling us about this fabulous yellow building behind us so what is this little ray of sunshine that we're working with yes um so this is uh what we call the homestead prairie farm uh it's located here at Rock Springs Conservation Area indicator uh and this is um kind of a a little area that we have converted back to uh an 1860s style Farmhouse and the land surrounding it um so this house is unique in that it was built around 1847 and it sits exactly where it was built so it's on its original Foundation which is um pretty rare for buildings of this age uh and so we've converted the home which we acquired in roughly 1977 um to an 1860s style uh Museum uh and the grounds around it uh reflect that as well so we have um an heirloom Garden which we plant with heirloom varieties of vegetables um and that is tended to by the uvi extension Master Gardeners uh and then we have um we've got some herbs that we plant around there as well we've got a wood shop um that we sometimes have uh interpreters in uh whittling away at things um and and this is um important because while yes we do care about natural history and plants and Wildlife we also care about local history and culture as well so um this is kind of a cool little a little Hidden Gem that we have here at Rock Springs that um people seem to really enjoy when they find it yeah so let's say I'm somebody who wants to come check out the house check out the grounds is there a certain time a week or that's like usually good or yeah so the uh the farm is open for tours uh May through October on Saturdays and Sundays from 1: to 400 p.m. um so we have a costumed uh interpreter here somebody in Period clothing um that will be here to give you a tour of the house and of the grounds uh and then we also have a few special events throughout the year if you're not here on one of those weekends where you can stop by and learn a little bit more as well and then just to kind of reiterate you've been talking about um you know how important conservation is but this is also showing how important it is um the people the people who lived here can you kind of talk about the importance of preserving it yeah um so this is unique because really nobody notable lived here you know Lincoln didn't live here we didn't have uh some really important historical figure uh that lived here at this house but um it is uh a good representation of what the average Farm family um would have looked like in the 1800s you know a lot of times we see these restored Mansions like the Oglesby mansion that we um that we also manage um and they're beautiful and they're Grand and they show what a wealthy person would have lived like in the 1800s but not the average Joe right um so this is kind of unique and that this gives you a glimpse into what um you know maybe a a working family um that was maybe just right at poverty level would have lived like this home originally was just one room wow uh and there were a lot of people living in just one room and as they had the means and as they had the time they added on uh one room at a time uh to get it to where it's at now well awesome okay well let's take a a quick break and sneak inside and show people how the other half lived sure so now we're inside this humble abode and so what room are we standing in so right now we are standing in the kitchen okay and can you kind of fill us in on some of the you know artifacts that we're looking at yeah so this home um is filled with artifacts that are either replica or antique um none of them are original to the home so we acquired this house in the 1970s there were still people living in it um so you know it's gone through a lot of families over the years so we had to kind of start from scratch and restore everything back to what it would have been like um so in this room we have a lot of um a lot of objects that you would have found in your typical Farm family back in the um 1860s uh including um you know pots and pans and uh gourds and um we have this really incredible cast iron stove yeah this stove is beautiful yeah that's my favorite piece in the whole house I think it's just um it's just really gorgeous and I love the the details on it but it's got four burners down here we've got two burners at the top there's an oven this is a Woodfired stove back then they wouldn't have had electricity so um everything would have been uh powered by Heat and the irons's on top to get them all warmed up right I know it kind of makes you a little bit grateful for what we have today oh heavens yes um indoor plumbing I would not live without it yes and we do have an ouse here as well it's functional so you're covered um and so we've covered the kitchen pretty well dining area um let's pivot into this other room too sure if anyone comes to visit be sure to watch your head and watch your stuff yes nothing in this house is uniform um all the rooms were added on gradually they didn't have construction codes like we have today sure um so they just kind of built what they needed um this room is what we call the borders room so in addition to the family that lived here there were also some borders and Hired Hands that lived here as well uh and this is the room that they would have stayed in um this room is unique because you can see um on this wall we have uh the original Uh Wood facade from that original Log Cabin so the kitchen where we were originally standing that was the home that's where that's the one room the entire family lived there and there was a mother father they had three daughters grandma lived with them um so yeah it was every body in that one room and then they needed to to you know expand a little bit say personal space who yes exactly so in this room we have um things like uh a rope bed here um with a feather mattress we've got um some items that they might have used to um you know uh have a little fun to entertain themselves a washboard um things that might be typical of um you know a Border's room and it's so important that we appreciate our past and know where we came from um like we were kind of talking earlier it is nice because we can uh really appreciate what we do have now absolutely yes yeah and we we use this home uh for School tours as well and field trips so it's always really fun to bring students into this house and have them look around and say well how did they you know how did they play their video games and where did they watch TV and where did they go to the bathroom and you have to have these kind of revelatory moments with them when they realize like oh yeah today it's a lot different than it was 200 years ago so we're conserving nature we're conserving the past um we've had a great time here today thank you so much for showing us around just a small snippet of the Conservation District we really appreciate it thanks so much for coming out we're glad that you guys are here of course the pleasure is ours and we thank our viewers for joining us for this episode of take a hike if you want to see more of this beautiful Homestead make sure you visit Rock Springs and I will see you in the next episode [Applause] oh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] take a hike on weiu is supported by R king America's Farm and Home Store camping supplies kayaks fishing and pet supplies and more find your store and more information regarding Roll King at roll king.com