Ferne Clyffe State Park

State park in Illinois

37°31′46″N 88°58′58″W / 37.52944°N 88.98278°W / 37.52944; -88.98278Area2,430 acres (983 ha)Established1949Governing bodyIllinois Department of Natural Resources

Ferne Clyffe State Park is an Illinois state park on 2,430 acres (983 ha) in Johnson County, Illinois, United States. The nearest town is Goreville, Illinois, and the nearest connection to a limited-access highway is at Exit 7 on the Illinois portion of Interstate 24. The land for the park was purchased by the state in 1949 from Emma Rebman, and the park is currently operated by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR). The original entrance to the park, located on the outskirts of Goreville, was found to be a potentially hazardous driving route, and was replaced by a new entrance located on Illinois Route 37 in the early 1980s. Although traffic upon it has been practically non-existent since 1982, Ferne Clyffe is also accessible to US Bicycle Route 76 by way of a spur trail along the east side of IL 37.

Natural Features

Ferne Clyffe's acreage holds a number of notable geographic features, including limestone bluffs, naturally forested woodlands, cliff caves, and several small seasonal waterfalls fed by runoff from the upper bluffs in the area.

Ferne Clyffe Lake

In the late 1950s, the IDNR constructed an earthen dam across Buck Branch Creek. An artificial lake, Ferne Clyffe Lake, had filled by 1960.

References

"Ferne Clyffe State Park". Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Archived from the original on April 2, 2007. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
"Ferne Clyffe Lake, southeast Illinois". findlakes.com. Retrieved May 24, 2008.
USGS. "Ferne Clyffe State Park, USGS Goreville (IL) Quad". TopoQuest. Retrieved July 5, 2008.

Protected areas of Illinois

Federal

National Historic Sites and Parks and national monument	Chicago Portage Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley Lincoln Home New Philadelphia Pullman
National Forest	Shawnee
National Wildlife Refuges	Chautauqua Crab Orchard Cypress Creek Driftless Area Emiquon Great River Hackmatack Kankakee Mark Twain Meredosia Middle Mississippi River Port Louisa Two Rivers Upper Mississippi River
National Grassland	Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
National Trails/National Heritage Area	Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area Illinois and Michigan Canal Lewis and Clark Mormon Pioneer Trail of Tears
National Natural Landmarks	List of National Natural Landmarks in Illinois
National Wild and Scenic Rivers	Middle Fork Vermilion River
Wetlands of international importance	Cache River-Cypress Creek The Emiquon Complex Dixon Waterfowl Refuge Chiwaukee Illinois Beach Lake Plain (shared with Wisconsin) Upper Mississippi (shared)

State

State Parks	Apple River Argyle Lake Beall Woods Beaver Dam Buffalo Rock Castle Rock Cave-in-Rock Chain O'Lakes Channahon Delabar Dixon Springs Donnelley/Depue Ferne Clyffe Fort Massac Fox Ridge Gebhard Woods Giant City Hennepin Canal Parkway Horseshoe Lake Illini Illinois Beach James "Pate" Philip Jubilee College Kankakee River Lake Murphysboro Lincoln Trail Lowden Matthiessen Mississippi Palisades Moraine Hills Morrison-Rockwood Nauvoo Pere Marquette Red Hills Rock Cut Rock Island Trail Shabbona Lake Siloam Springs South Shore Starved Rock Walnut Point Weinberg-King White Pines Forest Wildlife Prairie William G. Stratton Wolf Creek
State Historic Sites	List of Illinois State Historic Sites (including, Cahokia World Heritage Site)
State Forests	Big River Hidden Springs Lowden-Miller Sand Ridge Trail of Tears
State Recreation Areas	Clinton Lake Eagle Creek Eldon Hazlet Frank Holten Golconda Marina Johnson-Sauk Trail Kickapoo Lake Le-Aqua-Na Moraine View North Point Marina Prophetstown Pyramid Ramsey Lake Randolph County Sangchris Lake Stephen A. Forbes Washington County Wayne Fitzgerrell Weldon Springs William W. Powers
State Fish and Wildlife Areas	Anderson Lake Baldwin Lake Banner Marsh Carlyle Lake Coffeen Lake Crawford County Des Plaines Double T Edward R. Madigan Green River Hamilton County Heidecke Lake Horseshoe Lake (Alexander County) Iroquois County Kaskaskia River Kinkaid Lake Kishwaukee River LaSalle Lake Mackinaw River Marshall Mautino Mazonia/Braidwood Mermet Lake Middle Fork Mississippi River Newton Lake Jim Edgar Panther Creek Peabody River Pekin Lake Powerton Lake Ray Norbut Rend Lake Rice Lake Sahara Woods Saline County Sam Dale Lake Sam Parr Sanganois Shelbyville Silver Springs Snakeden Hollow Spring Lake Ten Mile Creek Turkey Bluffs Union County Woodford
State Natural Areas	Cache River Franklin Creek Fults Hill Prairie Goose Lake Prairie Harry "Babe" Woodyard Illinois Caverns Kidd Lake Piney Creek Ravine Prairie Ridge Revis Hill Prairie Sand Prairie-Scrub Oak Sielbeck Forest Spitler Woods Volo Bog
State Trails	Mormon Trail Trail of Tears Tunnel Hill