Powderhorn Marsh and Prairie

Before the industrial age, Powderhorn Lake was part of a continuous stretch of tallgrass prairie, sedge meadow, savanna and wetland in the Calumet region. In 2007, 130 of the preserve’s 192 acres were designated as the Powderhorn Prairie and Marsh Nature Preserve—the only state-dedicated nature preserve within Chicago city limits—to protect the dune-and-swale landscape that makes it so unique. Powderhorn is home to about 250 plant species, 2,500 insects and 40 to 100 bird species, depending on the season. Black oak, white oak, pin oak and sassafras as well as woody plants such as hazelnut, elderberry and buttonbush accompany lower-growing plants such as prickly pear cactus, nodding wild onion, Indian hemp, partridge pea, purple love grass, cinnamon willow-herb, rough blazingstar, Turk’s cap lily, slender false foxglove and many more.