Griswold Conservation Area is a 43-acre (0.17 km²) park located 0.5 miles northwest of Blue Mound, Illinois . The land preserve, which is operated by the Macon County Conservation District , centers on hiking and picknicking for users in the farming area southwest of Decatur . It is based on a land parcel donated to the county in 1973 by local benefactor and landowner Harry E. Griswold, and the conservation area is named in his honor.
6-620: The nearest major highway is Illinois Route 48 , at Blue Mound. The adjacent village, Blue Mound, is named for the Griswold Conservation Area's significant glacial kame . This is a surface mound left behind by glaciers during the Illinois glacial period . Ice masses, which melted circa 130,000 years B.P., left random heaps of gravel and loose rock behind. After the kame was quarried for aggregate stone during an extended period of time, with removal activity climaxing in
12-595: Is an undivided surface street for its entire length. It also serves the cities of Raymond , Taylorville , and Decatur . IL 48 and IL 127 travel east starting at an interchange with I-55. In Raymond, IL 127 turns south, while IL 48 travels northeast. IL 48 serves Harvel , Morrisonville, Palmer, and Clarksdale. IL 48 then bypasses Hewittsville and downtown Taylorville and intersects with IL 29. Continuing toward Decatur, IL 48 serves Willeys, Stonington, Blue Mound, and Boody. The route has an interchange with US 51 before entering through
18-399: The 1930s, the remains of the mound were set aside for public preservation and use. The remaining kame reaches 706 feet above sea level, up to 80 feet above the flat farmland around the land preserve. A trail serves a public overlook. The conservation area features predatory birds such as hawks and owls, which use the raised ground as an observation point just as humans do. Mammals listed by
24-692: The Conservation District include groundhogs, skunks, opossums, deer, foxes, and coyotes. 39°42′14″N 89°08′24″W / 39.7040°N 89.1399°W / 39.7040; -89.1399 Illinois Route 48 Illinois Route 48 ( IL 48 ) is an 85.38-mile (137.41 km) north–south state highway with its southern terminus at Interstate 55 (I-55) and IL 127 in Raymond and its northern terminus at IL 54 east of Clinton . IL 48 travels southwest to northeast from I-55 to IL 54 east of Clinton. It
30-550: The city limit of Decatur. Near downtown Decatur, IL 48 intersects with IL 105 before crossing over the Sangamon River. At the Millikin University, IL 48 indirectly meets US 36. IL 48 then turns east along IL 121. IL 48 turns northeast at a continuous-flow intersection. From there until Cisco, IL 48 parallels I-72. Between two interchanges with I-72 at Decatur and Cisco,
36-581: The route serves Oreana and Argenta. After Cisco, the route curves north for the remainder of the route, serving Weldon and IL 10. IL 48 eventually ends at IL 54 in Fullerton. SBI Route 48 traveled from Onarga to Raymond via the current IL 48 and IL 54. The route appeared in 1929 with the construction of a diagonal roadway. Construction of a new road concluded by 1935. The portion from Fullerton to Onarga became part of an extension of US 54 in 1942. In 1972, IL 54
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