Beall Woods State Park is a 635-acre (2.5 km²) state park bordering the Wabash River near Mount Carmel, Illinois in Wabash County. 329 acres (1.3 km²) of the state park is an old-growth forest designated as an Natural Area of the U.S. state of Illinois. The trees within the forest consist overwhelmingly of hardwoods of the former Eastern Woodlands ecosystem. Beall Woods State Park has been elevated to the status of a National Natural Landmark as the Forest of the Wabash. The state park was created in 1966. State park is a term used in the United States and in Mexico for an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreation, or other reason, and under the administration of the government of a U.S. state or one of the states of Mexico. ... The Wabash River at Lafayette, Indiana, showing the Main Street bridge, and the Amtrak station. ... Mount Carmel is the county seat of Wabash County, Illinois. ... Wabash County is a county located in the state of Illinois. ... Old growth forest, sometimes called late seral forest or ancient forest is an area of forest that has attained great age and exhibits unique biological features. ... Official language(s) English Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Area  Ranked 25th  - Total 0 sq mi (149,998 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 390 miles (629 km)  - % water 4. ... Beech is a typical temperate zone hardwood The term hardwood designates wood from angiosperm trees. ... Caverns of Sonora National Natural Landmark The National Natural Landmark (NNL) program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the United States natural history. ...

Forest of the Wabash

The Forest of the Wabash Natural Area within Beall Woods State Park contains trees from 64 separate species. Foresters have counted more than 300 "climax" trees with trunks of greater than 30 inches (75 cm) at "breast" i.e. 40 inches (1 m) high. Some of the trees in the Forest of the Wabash are more than 120 feet (35 m) tall.

Trees of note include the white oak (the state tree of Illinois), the tuliptree (the state tree of Indiana, across the Wabash River), the American sycamore, and the American Sweetgum. One of the sweetgums of this Forest is designated as the "state champion" tree as being the largest member of this species known to grow within the boundaries of Illinois. Binomial name Quercus alba L. The White oak (Quercus alba) is one of the most magnificent of oaks. ... Species Liriodendron chinense (Hemsl. ... Binomial name Platanus occidentalis L. The American sycamore (Platanus occidentalis), also known as American plane and Buttonwood, is one of the species of Platanus native to North America, where it is often just called Sycamore. ... Binomial name Liquidambar styraciflua L. American Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), also known as Redgum, is a deciduous tree in the genus Liquidambar native to warm temperate areas of eastern North America. ...

The Forest of the Wabash was patented by the federal government to the Beall family in the early 1800s, and was owned by them as an undisturbed woodlot until the 1960s. Meanwhile almost all of the other old-growth trees in the Wabash Valley were cut down for fine hardwood purposes, timber, or even for firewood. Upon the death of Laura Beall, the last private-sector guardian of the Forest of the Wabash, and after a fight with a lumber company, in 1965 the State of Illinois condemned the Beall farm and forest for public use. Wood burning is the largest current use of biomass derived energy. ...

The state park today

A visitor center was opened in April 2001. The park maintains 6.25 miles (10 km.) of hiking trails, primarily through the Forest of the Wabash portion of the park. A country trail in Slovenia. ...

External links

Official State Park site: [1]