Moraine View State Recreation Area

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View of Dawson Lake, north end.

The Moraine View State Recreation Area is a state park operated by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) of the U.S. state of Illinois. The 1,687-acre (6.7 km²) recreation area is located near Le Roy, Illinois.

The ancestor of Moraine View, the McLean County Conservation Area, traces its history to 1959. The park was renamed Moraine View State Park in 1975, then Moraine View State Recreation Area in 1995. It is managed for active recreation, including camping, hiking, swimming, boating, hunting and fishing. Camping available includes Class A sites with electricity and nearby modern toilet and shower facilities, to group camps and primitive backpacking sites. Hunters use the park for whitetail deer, pheasant, and wild turkey.

[edit] Dawson Lake

Another view of Dawson Lake, north end.

The centerpiece of Moraine View is the 158-acre (0.6 km²) Dawson Lake, an artificial reservoir built in 1962-1963. Fish stocked in the lake by the DNR include largemouth bass, bluegill (the state fish of Illinois), sunfish, bullhead, crappie, channel catfish, walleye, yellow perch and northern pike.

[edit] Geology

Moraine View State Recreation Area is located atop a moraine, a low, rolling ridge located where a vanished ice sheet dumped ground rock and till while melting. Moraines are common post-glacial geological features, and can be found throughout the U.S. Midwest. This moraine was produced by the Wisconsin glaciation, about 70,000 to 10,000 years before present.

Moraine View SRA is the headwaters for Salt Creek, a major tributary of the Sangamon River, one of the largest rivers in central Illinois. The northeastern face of the same moraine, outside the state recreation area, is the headwaters of the main stem of the Sangamon. Although Salt Creek and the main stem of the Sangamon arise on opposite sides of this moraine, they flow more than 80 miles west before they meet again.

[edit] External link

State of Illinois

	Protected Areas of Illinois Department of Natural Resources
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 \| Franklin Creek \| Gebhard Woods \| Giant City \| Hazel & Bill Rutherford Wildlife Prairie \| Hennepin Canal \| Horseshoe Lake State Park (Madison County) \| Illini \| Illinois Beach \| James "Pate" Philip \| Johnson-Sauk Trail \| Jubilee College \| Kankakee River \| Lake Le-Aqua-Na \| 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 \| William G. Stratton \| Wolf Creek
State Forests	Big River \| Hidden Springs \| Sand Ridge \| Trail of Tears
State Recreation Areas	Clinton Lake \| Eagle Creek \| Eldon Hazlet \| Frank Holten \| Golconda Marina \| Kickapoo \| 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 & Wildlife Areas	Anderson Lake \| Baldwin Lake \| Carlyle Lake \| Coffeen Lake \| Crawford County \| Des Plaines \| Edward R. Madigan \| Green River \| Hamilton County \| Heidecke Lake \| Horseshoe Lake (Alexander County) \| Iroquois \| Kaskaskia River \| Kinkaid Lake \| Kishwaukee River \| LaSalle Lake \| Mackinaw River \| Marshall \| Mautino \| Mazonia/Braidwood \| Mermet Lake \| Middle Fork \| Mississippi River \| Newton Lake \| Panther Creek \| Peabody River \| Ray Norbut \| Rend Lake \| Rice Lake \| 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 \| Fults Hill Prairie \| Goose Lake Prairie \| Harry "Babe" Woodyard \| Illinois Caverns \| Kidd Lake \| Piney Creek Ravine \| Sielbeck Forest \| Spitler Woods \| Volo Bog
State Trails	Tunnel Hill