Pyramid State Recreation Area

Infobox_protected_area | name = Pyramid State Recreation Area, Illinois, USA
iucn_category = V


caption = Map of the U.S. state of Illinois showing the location of Pyramid State Recreation Area
locator_x = 142
locator_y = 317
location = Perry County, Illinois, USA
nearest_city = Pinckneyville, Illinois
lat_degrees = 38
lat_minutes = 01
lat_seconds = 05
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 89
long_minutes = 24
long_seconds = 52
long_direction = W
area = convert|19701|acre|km2|2|lk=on
established = 1968
visitation_num =
visitation_year =
governing_body = Illinois Department of Natural Resources

Pyramid State Recreation Area, the largest state recreation area in Illinois, contains 19,701 acres (79.7 km²). It is located within Perry County, and is administered by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (Illinois DNR). The nearest large town is Pinckneyville, Illinois.

History and current use

Pyramid State Recreation Area is almost entirely made up of land that was strip mined for coal. Like much of Southern Illinois, the region lay atop Pennsylvanian deposits of coal. Much of the coal was owned by St. Louis interests, and was shipped to that city for heating and industrial production during the first part of the 1900s. Until the 1960s, it was the custom to write off strip-mined sections of Illinois as worthless.

In 1968, the state of Illinois began to acquire the former coal-mine properties that today form Pyramid State Recreation Area, and commenced to rehabilitate the region as a new natural area, at first named Pyramid State Park. The new state park was named after one of the coal mines that formerly operated on the property. In 2001, Illinois DNR acquired 16,245 acres (65.7 km²) of land from a coal company, forming the largest portion of the new Pyramid State Recreation Area.

The deposits of coal mine tailings on Pyramid State Recreation Area give the park an undulating appearance, very different from the natural geomorphology of most of Illinois. 16.5 miles (26 km) of trails offer challenges to hikers, horseback riders, and mountain bikers.

The Illinois DNR manages sections of the park for the hunting of deer and waterfowl. There is fishing for largemouth bass and bluegill. Much of the former strip-mined land has been replanted with trees, with tolerant, early succession trees such as cottonwood, box elder, and sycamore predominating. Illinois DNR planners hope to increase the numbers of oak and hickory trees in the recreation area.

Proposal

In 2007, the "Toney Watkins Company" proposed to purchase a convert|2000|acre|km2|0|sing=on parcel of land currently included within the Pyramid State Recreation Area from Illinois in a land-swap deal. The transferred state land would be used to help provide a site for a convert|10000|acre|km2|0|sing=on destination resort. [http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09500HB0029sam003&GA=95&SessionId=51&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=26622&DocNum=29&GAID=9&Session=]