Belmont Prairie

State Natural Area (No. 364)

Location: Lafayette County. T3N-R1E, Section 15. 36 acres.

Access: From the junction of STH 126 and the Pecatonica State Trail in Belmont, walk or mountain bike (trail is not suited for road bikes) along the multi-use recreation trail 1.2 miles to the eastern boundary of the natural area. Note: The trail seemingly ends in a shallow, wooded ravine at about the 1 mile mark. Bear left at this point into the agricultural field, then immediately hook back right and return to the old railroad bed and continue another 0.2 miles to the natural area. The best portion of this overgrown prairie, albeit narrow and small, is at the far western end. Prairie is located only within the former railroad right-of-way. The areas north and south of the right-of-way are old field composed of non-native cool-season grasses.

Description: Located along the Pecatonica State Trail, Belmont Prairie is a small mesic to dry prairie remnant with over 80 species of native plants. This stretch of prairie lies within a former railroad right-of-way, which is one reason for the prairie's preservation. While most mesic prairies have been nearly extirpated from the state due to human settlement and agriculture, Belmont Prairie was preserved, in part, by the unintentional fires sparked by the rails and stray cinders from passing locomotives. The fires encouraged the growth of native prairie grasses and forbs and kept the area free from woody species encroachment. Common grasses include big and little blue-stem, side-oats grama, Canada wild rye, prairie drop-seed, and June grass. Forbs include lyre-leaved rock cress, field wormwood, Canada milk-vetch, flowering spurge, Illinois tick-trefoil, prairie thistle, compass-plant, and New Jersey tea. This small remnant prairie also contains rare plants and animals including wild quinine (Parthenium integrifolium), upland sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda), dickcissel (Spiza americana), grasshopper sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum), and bell's vireo (Vireo bellii). Belmont Prairie is owned by the DNR and was designated a State Natural Area in 2002.