Grand Prairie Friends aims to make nature accessible to everyone
The accredited Illinois land trust has begun providing guided bus tours of its largest property to nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
The views, thoughts and opinions expressed in this blog are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Land Trust Alliance, its staff, its board of directors or any other individuals associated with the organization.
Grand Prairie Friends believes nature is for everyone. In keeping with this value, our preserves are open to the public, allowing anyone to explore and experience the importance of conserving this land. However, sometimes opening the metaphorical doors to the property isn’t enough to truly let our patches of nature and passion for conservation be accessible to all.
In 2024, Grand Prairie Friends received generous funding from the CABOT corporation to launch a dream project: guided bus tours of our largest property, Warbler Ridge Conservation Area, for nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
Just at the edge of the Wisconsin glacier’s furthest southern reach lies the rolling ravines of Warbler Ridge. The Warbler Ridge preserves are part of an extensive woodland corridor running along the Embarras River for more than eight miles, from Charleston to Fox Ridge State Park.
This 1,100-acre property consists of woodlands, prairies, wetlands and river shoreline owned and managed by Grand Prairie Friends since 2011. Here, upland deciduous forest boasts a hearty spring wildflower display and a fiery fall foliage show, usually only viewed by the abundant audience of migrating and resident songbirds. The ravine bottoms adjacent to the Embarras River flood in the spring, then reveal three wetlands among blooming prairie.
As these visiting seniors look through the windows of the bus, they see the beauty of the glacial moraines, hear about our bat conservation as they drive through the habitat restoration, and catch glimpses of local wildlife. Our tour guides join their vehicles at the start of the tour and share the story of Warbler Ridge as the tour winds through the property.
While these visitors may not be able to traverse a hilly hiking trail, they still experience the wonder of nature and hear the story and the value of conserving the land. Whether they drive through the fiery colors of fall or the first peeks of spring wildflowers, the beauty of the land is evident, giving insight into why we strive to protect it.
Thanks to the gift from CABOT and the generous donations of time and knowledge from Grand Prairie Friends’ docents, Grand Prairie Friends can offer these tours at no cost to local assisted living facilities. It is one more step that we are taking toward nature truly being for everyone.