Nature Areas
Hurley Park Savanna
Directions:Hurley Park Savanna is located at 1901 W. 100th Street in the Beverly neighborhood.
(click here for map)
Description:
Hurley Park is home to one of Illinois’ few remaining oak savannas and is currently the only oak savanna in Chicago’s parks. About 14,000 years ago, the current site of Hurley Park was underneath a glacial era lake called Lake Chicago. About 2,000 years passed and Lake Chicago receded to its current location (Lake Michigan). Hurley Park remained an untouched remnant of a beach landscape of oak ridges and low wetland. As time went on, the area underwent stages of ecological succession-- transforming from a sand ridge with a few grasses and marshy areas, to a well-established oak savanna.
As the City of Chicago developed and land uses changed, the untouched remnant, now known as Hurley Park, began to lack basic oak savanna characteristics such as a regenerating oak canopy, and an herbaceous understory. Tree species consists of Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa), White Oak (Quercus alba), and Black Oak (Quercus velutina) but the understory was mostly turf grass such as Kentucky Blue Grass and Fescue. In 1996, the Morton Arboretum and the park district embarked on a savanna restoration that involved recreating the native grass, wildflower, and shrub layer.
The grass and sedge plants were successfully established in 1997 and included the reintroduction of native plants such as Common Wood Sedge (Carex blanda), Short -headed Bracted Sedge (Carex cephalophora), Straight-styled Wood Sedge (Carex radiata), Common Oak Sedge (Carex pensylvanica). Grasses such as Silky Wild Rye (Elymus villosus), Canada Wild Rye (Elymus canadensis), Nodding Fescue (Festuca obtuse), Bottlebrush Grass (Hystrix patula), and Woodland Brome (Bromus pubescens).
A direct planting of plugs included wildflowers such as Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis), Smooth Blue Aster (Aster laevis), Big-leaved Aster (Aster macrophyllus), White Snakeroot (Eupatorium rugosum), Prairie Alum Root (Heuchera richardsonii), Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta), Woodland Knotweed (Polygonatum virginianum), Elm-leaved Goldenrod (Solidago ulmifolia), Common Spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis) and Culver’s Root (Veronicastrum virginicum). Finally, shrubs such as American Hazelnut (Corylus Americana) and New Jersey Tea (Ceantothus americanus) were added to complete the restoration.
Chicago Park District
Department of Natural Resources
February 2002