Illinois Beach is a wonderful place, full of rare plants living in a wide variety of habitats. At the north unit, near the marina which is causing so much problems for the beach to the south, a trail winds through a beautiful black oak woodland. These trees grow well on the old dunes. I remember one year we had a powerful wind sweep through the area and when it was over many trees had been ripped up by their roots and lay scattered like jack straws. It was fascinating to see their root balls up in the air, pure sand beneath them. After, what? hundreds, or thousands of years, so little organic matter had built up on these dunes.
