Your Forest Preserves

Rollins Savanna

Rollins Savanna is one of Lake County’s largest forest preserves with 1,216 uninterrupted acres. Scattered groves of large oaks, wide-open prairies teeming with wildflowers and native grasses, and abundant wetlands offer the perfect setting for grassland birds and other wildlife.

A 5.5-mile trail with bridges and boardwalks encircles the site. This multi-use trail is open for hiking, bicycling, cross-country skiing and nature and wildlife observation. This preserve also offers a native seed nursery, parking, toilets, drinking fountain and a bridge crossing over Mill Creek. Snowmobiles can parallel a small section of the trail as they pass through the preserve.

The main entrance and parking area for Rollins Savanna is on Washington Street at Atkinson Road, just west of Route 45 and east of Route 83. A second parking lot is located on Drury Lane.

Rollins Savanna was acquired in phases between 1988 and 1993. Following work to renovate this unique preserve to restore its valuable ecosystems and provide new outdoor recreation and nature and history education opportunities, the site officially re-opened to the public in September 2004.

Master Plan Process

As part of the successful 1999 Forest Preserve bond referendum, approved by 66 percent of voters, funding was set aside for the development and implementation of a Rollins Savanna Master Plan for public access and land restoration improvements.

An Advisory Committee of representatives from the Forest Preserve Board, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, The Nature Conservancy, Lake County Farm Bureau, Avon Township, College of Lake County, the Village of Grayslake, and local residents was formed. The committee coordinated input from community and conservation groups and developed a vision statement with goals for the Preserve. In March 2001, the Forest Preserve Board approved the committee’s conceptual master plan and paved the way for new public access amenities at the preserve. Grants and donations from a variety of project partners helped offset project costs.

Project Partners

Throughout the planning process, the Forest Preserve District received valuable technical and funding assistance from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and Ducks Unlimited, Inc.

Several funding agencies provided grants totaling $1.2 million for habitat restoration, trails and public access improvements. Funding support was received from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the Conservation Fund, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the Northeastern Illinois Wetland Conservation Account, the North American Waterfowl Conservation Act and Ducks Unlimited.

Forest Preserve natural resource crews and project partners have been working to restore this unique preserve to enhance its valuable ecosystems. More than 450 acres of former farmland have been restored as part of a massive habitat restoration and preservation project here, representing the largest restoration effort ever undertaken by the Lake County Forest Preserves.

Unique to Rollins Savanna is its large size, uninterrupted by roads and development, and its existing diverse natural resource features. Rich black soils found at this preserve once dominated Midwestern landscape in the 1800s. The preserve protects the south fork of Mill Creek, frontage on Third Lake and large interior wetland complexes that provide needed food sources and rest stops for ruddy ducks, blue-winged teal, great blue herons, egrets and a variety of waterfowl species. Grassland birds, waterfowl and other wildlife are drawn to the site’s oak savannas and expansive prairies and wetlands.

Extensive habitat restoration efforts were completed along the Mill Creek corridor and on over 200 acres of wetlands. One of the project goals is to establish Rollins Savanna as an ecological research site and outdoor classroom for local universities, schools and other organizations.

In 2005, Rollins Savanna was named an Important Bird Area by the National Audubon Society due to the large number of endangered yellow-headed blackbirds that have found refuge here. Dubbed a “Birder’s Field of Dreams,” Rollins Savanna is favored by bird watchers.

A bird observation area near the Drury Lane parking area provides a safe, accessible way for all of our visitors to view and enjoy birds. This observation area consists of a 100-foot stone path that provides access from the existing preserve trail system to a raised platform. This observation deck is a gathering space that offers a clear view of the adjacent grassland and wetland.

The deck features magnified viewing scopes. Interpretive signs inform visitors about habitat and species they might see from that vantage point. In spring 2009, seating areas will be added and approximately 50 native oak trees will be planted around the observation area. Enhancing the habitat with oak trees will provide shade for visitors using the observation area and also help them blend into the landscape to create less of a disturbance to wildlife using that habitat.