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Places We Protect

The Cache River Wetlands

Illinois

Grassy Slough in the Cache River wetlands.
Grassy Slough TNC has worked with partners to protect the lands and waters of the Cache River. © Tharran Hobson/The Nature Conservancy

Thousand-year-old cypress trees rise above the black waters of the Cache River Wetlands’ swamps.

Overview

Description

Throughout the Cache River Wetlands, in what is now more than 45,000 acres of protected land, cypress and tupelo swamps can be found, seeming to belong more to Louisiana than Illinois. Cypress trees that are more than a thousand years old raise their gnarled branches above the black waters here. The lower stretch of the river spreads out over the flat terrain of extreme southern Illinois and creates what early surveyors to the region described as “a drowned land.”

Because of their rich biological variety, the wetlands of the Cache River have been designated a “Wetland of International Importance.” This designation from the Ramsar Convention of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ranks the Cache River Wetlands with other important wetlands, such as the Florida Everglades.

Access

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Observe cypress and tupelo swamps on your visit to the Cache.

Location

Southern Illinois near Cypress

Map with marker: The Cache River Wetlands are located in southern Illinois.

Hours

Open from sunrise to sunset

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Why The Nature Conservancy Selected This Site

The thick, lush vegetation of the hardwood forests and swamps in the Cache watershed were once home to many large mammal species that are no longer found in the region. Forest loss in the watershed due to logging and agriculture, especially along the lower stretch of the Cache, has been extensive.

Efforts to dry out the region have resulted in modifications to the Cache that have severely affected its natural flow. This has degraded the river and associated cypress and shrub swamps. Water quality of the river has suffered greatly, due in part to soil erosion from cleared land in the watershed. Up to 150 tons of soil per acre is washed into the river and wetlands each year.

Photos from the Cache River Wetlands

Visitors can best observe the Cache's rich cypress and tupelo swamps while canoeing or kayaking.

A vintage yellow TNC sign that reads, "The Nature Conservancy - Cache River Wetlands Project".
Two thick tree bases sit in shallow water surrounded by greenery.
Henry N. Barkhausen Cache River Wetlands Center surrounded by shallow wetlands and grasses.
A boardwalk twists and turns around tall trees jutting out of duckweed-covered water.
Dark silhouettes of Cypress trees stand tall over shallow water at sunrise.
A river lined by green trees at dusk under a deep pink and purple sky.
Shelf fungus growing out of a tree.
A long brown bridge stretches across a green-tinted river with thick greenery on the other side.
Caleb Grantham standing on the edge of Wildcat Bluff overlooking a vast landscape of trees under a blue sky.
A close-up of yellow wildflowers with trees and wetlands in the distance.
A vintage yellow TNC sign that reads, "The Nature Conservancy - Cache River Wetlands Project".

Grassy Slough Signage: Only a few vintage TNC signs remain at the Cache River Wetlands. © Laura Stoecker

Two thick tree bases sit in shallow water surrounded by greenery.

Big Cypress: Large Bald Cypress trees (Taxodium distichum) like these fill the Big Cypress section of the Cache River Wetlands Preserve. The bases of each of these two are 10 feet across. © Ralph Earlandson

Henry N. Barkhausen Cache River Wetlands Center surrounded by shallow wetlands and grasses.

Henry N. Barkhausen Center: The Cache River Wetlands Center is a 7,000 square-foot facility offering interpretive exhibits and information about the natural and cultural history of the Cache. © Laura Stoecker

A boardwalk twists and turns around tall trees jutting out of duckweed-covered water.

Heron Pond Boardwalk: Bald Cypress trees (Taxodium distichum) are found across the preserve's wetlands, often with visible knees jutting out of duckweed-covered water. © Ralph Earlandson

Dark silhouettes of Cypress trees stand tall over shallow water at sunrise.

Sunrise at the Cache: Cypress trees at the Preserve are illuminated at sunrise. © Laura Stoecker

A river lined by green trees at dusk under a deep pink and purple sky.

Dusk at the Cache: Long Reach is a great spot to watch the sunset at the Cache River Wetlands. © Harold E. Malde

Shelf fungus growing out of a tree.

Tree Fungi: Shelf fungus grows on trees throughout the Cache River Wetlands. © Laura Stoecker

A long brown bridge stretches across a green-tinted river with thick greenery on the other side.

Cache River Bridge: The Cache River's water level fluctuates throughout the year. Here, the river rests at high water. © Ralph Earlandson

Caleb Grantham standing on the edge of Wildcat Bluff overlooking a vast landscape of trees under a blue sky.

Wildcat Bluff: Staff and visitors can enjoy the scenic view looking out over trees at Wildcat Bluff in the Cache River Wetlands. © Laura Stoecker

A close-up of yellow wildflowers with trees and wetlands in the distance.

Wildflowers at Mermet Lake: In addition to the many tree species that call the Cache home, many diverse wildflowers and fauna are also native to the Preserve. © Laura Stoecker

Visit

  •  

    Plants

    Bottomland hardwood forests are dominated by overcup oak, pin oak, cherrybark oak and sweetgum that give way to red oak, white oak and shagbark hickory trees. Barrens occur on the highest ridge tops where soils are thin and bedrock is exposed. These sites are dominated by small post oak and blackjack oak trees, scattered about open expanses of land that are dominated by grasses and forbs more commonly encountered on dry prairies. Cypress and tupelo trees and thickets of buttonbush occur in areas of shallow water.

    Animals

    Restored wetlands attract a myriad of bird species, including migrating waterfowl and shorebirds, bald eagles, great blue herons and great egrets. Bird-voiced tree frogs, southern leopard frogs, spring peepers, western chorus frogs, bullfrogs and American toads are among the more vocal of the area's amphibian inhabitants. Mammals you can spot include white-tailed deer, squirrels, raccoons, beavers, gray foxes, red foxes, opossums, skunks and mink.

  • Begin your adventure at the Cache River Wetlands Center, which is open Wednesday through Sunday from 9 am to 4 pm. The Wetlands Center is located at 8885 State Route 37, Cypress, IL, 62923.

    Next, visit the Jean Campbell Farwell Memorial Overlook, which TNC maintains, located on the blacktop between Karnak and Belknap. Enjoy the boardwalks at Heron Pond and Section 8 Woods, and bike along the historic Tunnel Hill Trail.

    One of the best ways to see the Cache River is by canoe or kayak. The Cache River Joint Venture Partnership and the Friends of the Cache River Watershed offer canoe trips along the Cache, as well as various educational workshops about the flora and fauna of the area. Check out the Friends’ web site for an updated list of activities.

    TNC suggests wearing long pants, sturdy shoes and sun protection. Don't forget insect repellent and water, too!

    The use of Other Power Driven Mobility Devices (OPDMD)s (utility vehicles, ATVs, Segways, golf carts, etc.) on this property has been assessed in accordance with the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations. OPDMDs are prohibited.

  • Please contact Tharran Hobson at thobson@tnc.org for volunteer opportunities at the Cache River Wetlands.

Current Conservation Work

The Nature Conservancy is part of the Cache River Joint Venture Program (JVP), a unique public-private partnership between the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ducks Unlimited and TNC. Through this partnership, nearly 35,000 acres of the Cache River Wetlands are in conservation ownership, despite changes to the river, deforestation and decades of wetlands loss. Additionally, local landowners have protected 13,500 acres of restored wetlands through NRCS’ Wetland Reserve Program.

Also through NRCS, landowners are using a variety of conservation practices, such as no-till conservation tillage, grassed waterways and reforestation; many of these practices are through NRCS' Environmental Quality Incentives and Wildlife Habitat Programs. In all, more than 45,000 acres of private lands are using some sort of NRCS conservation program in the Cache River Watershed.

Seedling Seedlings grow on the ground by Mermet Lake at the Cache River Wetlands Preserve. © Laura Stoecker
Fungi at Wildcat Bluff Mushrooms and moss grow across the Cache River Wetlands. © Laura Stoecker
Lower Cache Swamp Trees line the Lower Cache Swamp Access Trail frequented by visitors at the Cache River Wetlands. © Laura Stoecker
Heron at Mermet Lake Birds like herons frequent the Cache River Wetlands. © Laura Stoecker
Cypress Tree Sunrise Sunrise is a beautiful time to visit the Cache River Wetlands Preserve. © Laura Stoecker
856 Years Young The cypress trees at the Cache River Wetlands Preserve are incredibly resilient. This tree, named 209 Knees Tree, is 856 years old. © Laura Stoecker
Canoeing the Cache Canoeing the Cache River is a great way to glimpse the many Cypress trees that call the Wetlands home. © Laura Stoecker

TNC is highly invested in the Cache River and owns natural areas in the Cache River State Natural Area and Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge. Our team is working in the region to create and enhance conservation partnerships, develop conservation practices and outcomes, and engage the local community.

In addition, our six-person Southern Illinois Strike team conducts highly important stewardship activities on state and federal lands, including invasive species management, reforestation and prescribed burns. The Strike team, along with two temporary fellows per year as part of the Women in Fire (WIF) fellowship program, works across 11 southern counties. In 2017 alone, this collaborative team treated and burned overmore than 14,000 acres.

Find More Places We Protect

The Nature Conservancy owns nearly 1,500 preserves covering more than 2.5 million acres across all 50 states. These lands protect wildlife and natural systems, serve as living laboratories for innovative science and connect people to the natural world.

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