Ray Norbut State Fish and Wildlife Area

Ray Norbut State Fish and Wildlife Area is a 1,140-acre protected tract along the Illinois River near Griggsville, Illinois, combining wooded bluffland around Napoleon Hollow with a 100-acre island wetland on Big Blue Island. Its oak-hickory forest supports deer and other mammals, preserves unusually old white oaks, and, together with nearby river banks and bluffs, provides winter habitat for bald eagles feeding on river fish. The area also holds a long human history, from hunters more than 7,000 years ago to 19th-century river settlements and the surviving Griggsville Landing Lime Kiln. Acquired and expanded by Illinois after 1970, it was renamed for Ray Norbut in 1995.

Florence, Illinois · United States