Early settlers to Illinois, in an attempt to describe the unfamiliar terrain they were encountering, referred to it as "a sea of grass with pretty flowers."
Today, located in Grundy County approximately 50 miles southwest of Chicago and 1 mile southwest of the confluence of the Kankakee River and Des Plaines River, Goose Lake Prairie State Natural Area serves as testimony to the prairies that once covered nearly 60 percent of the state. Big bluestern, Indian grass, and switch grass thrive here, as do broad-leaved flowering plants known as forbs.
In addition to furnishing a look into Illinois past, the prairie provides important nesting habitat for endangered or threatened species of birds, such as the upland sandpiper and Henslows sparrow.