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Nature reserve · Illinois

Mississippi Palisades State Park

Mississippi Palisades State Park from directly overhead

Mississippi Palisades State Park is a nature reserve in Illinois, at a modelled elevation of 245 m. Benton Mound stands 367 m to the north-northeast, 18 miles off. The nearest named place is Pavilion, a picnic site 0.9 miles away. Great River Road passes 0.6 miles off. 14 named summits stand within 25 miles.

The record

What the record says

Built
1973
Visiting

What to expect

Operated by
Illinois Department of Natural Resources

Official site

Getting there

How to reach it

Driving directionsPlan a drive around it
Coordinates42.14355, -90.15649

Overlooks nearby

Around it

Named places within 25 miles

Parks
  • Sentinel Nature Preserve: 1.2 mi
  • Maquette Park: 3.1 mi
  • Old Mill Park: 3.3 mi
  • Bowen Park: 3.8 mi
  • Bill Cotton Park: 5.2 mi
Nature reserves: 31
Museums: 24
  • Savanna Museum and Cultural Center: 3.4 mi
  • Savanna Train Car Museum: 3.7 mi
  • Apple River Fort State Historic Site: 12.4 mi
  • Chicago Great Western Railway Depot Museum: 12.5 mi
  • Apple River Fort - Interpretive Center: 12.5 mi
Historic sites: 15
  • Historic ruins: 1.4 mi
  • Savanna Veterans Memorial: 2.9 mi
  • Old Mill Site: 9.4 mi
  • Bellevue War Memorial: 15.7 mi
  • Veterans Memorial: 15.7 mi
Peaks: 14
  • Heer Hill: 5.3 mi
  • Lost Mound: 7.7 mi
  • South Bluff: 15.3 mi
  • North Bluff: 16.2 mi
  • Simmons Mound: 17.7 mi
Attractions: 11
Artworks: 6
Gardens: 4
Beaches: 3
Cliffs: 3
Springs: 3
  • Cedar Spring: 9.7 mi
  • Plum Creek Spring: 10.4 mi
  • Marsden Well: 22.8 mi
Picnic sites: 2
  • Pavilion: 0.9 mi
  • Wilderness Woods Picnic Area: 23.0 mi
Ghost towns: 2
Waterfalls: 2
  • Apple Canyon Waterfall: 18.9 mi
  • Thunder Bay Falls: 20.4 mi
On the horizon

Summits around it

The highest named summits within 25 miles of Mississippi Palisades State Park. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.

SummitBearingElevationDistance
Benton MoundNNE 17°367 m18.3 mi
Mount SumnerN 2°357 m22.4 mi
Scales MoundNNW 345°356 m23.1 mi
Squirrel Grove MoundN 1°355 m24.3 mi
Hudson MoundN 357°354 m23.1 mi
Horseshoe MoundNW 326°324 m21.8 mi
Simmons MoundNNE 31°323 m17.7 mi
Wenzel MoundNNW 348°315 m22.0 mi
Conditions

When to go

Light through the year

DateSunriseGolden hourSunset
March equinox07:0518:3619:13
June solstice05:2519:5820:41
September equinox06:4918:2319:00
December solstice07:2715:4716:32

Local time (America/Chicago).

Climate normals

Months averaging 50–80 °F: May–Oct.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg °F212537486069737163513826
Precip in1.71.82.53.94.65.54.93.93.73.02.62.2

1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — MT Carroll, 9 mi away.

Wildlife nearby
  • large white trillium53 obs
  • largeflower bellwort51 obs
  • prairie trillium40 obs
  • northern maidenhair fern39 obs
  • sharp-lobed hepatica37 obs
  • Golden Oyster Mushroom34 obs
  • Amethyst Shooting Star31 obs
  • twoleaf miterwort29 obs

Research-grade iNaturalist community observations within 3 km — what people have recorded, not a species inventory.

Sources

Where this comes from

Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.

OpenStreetMapWikipediaOfficial site

OpenStreetMap element way/436478260

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