Pyramid State Recreation Area

Pyramid State Recreation Area in southern Illinois near Pinckneyville is the state's largest recreation area, covering 19,701 acres of former strip-mined coal land. After mining by the Pyramid Coal Company ended in 1959, parts of the disturbed landscape were transferred to the state and used to study and advance land rehabilitation. Expanded through later acquisitions, especially in 2001, it became a large public landscape of rolling reclaimed ground, lakes, trails, campgrounds, and managed hunting and fishing areas. Replanting and habitat management have also made it ecologically important, earning recognition as an Important Bird Area of Illinois.

Illinois · United States