Eggers Grove with Chicagos 112 the street on the north with a bike trail immediately to th east and west of the Indiana Toll Road, electircal transmission lines along the south, and the Burnham Greenway bike trail along the west.
Photo by US Forest Service
112th and Avenue E, Chicago 250 acres
Facilities: Picnic Area, Walking Paths Through Wetlands and Swamp Forest
Part of the Cook County Forest Preserve District, Eggers Grove, also known as Eggers Woods, comprises about 250 acres, much of which is made up of slag fill, especially south of 118th Street. There are sections of oak savannah, some 20 acres of wetland, and pools of water. This is a remnant sand spit typical of what this area was like before the sand hills were mined for Chicago shoreline fill under the Burnham Plan. Now it is one of the last habitats of this type.
Once connected to Wolf Lake with vast wetlands that provided substantial spawning habitat, Eggers Grove is currently isolated from Wolf Lake by slag fill and includes an area where cyanide has been dumped. One section of Eggers Grove has been classified as a swamp forest. Beyond your view, near the state line, is a fill area where drainage could be reverted to its historical direction south and east toward Wolf Lake. This section lies just west and north of the next area we'll view: the proposed organized youth campground.
Besides oak, you'll find American elm and a variety of willow trees. Note how the Burnham Greenway forms the western boundary of the watershed at this point. Marsh-nesting birds and migrant songbirds are among Eggers Grove’s 170 bird species.
Return to the entrance, turn left onto 112th Street and continue west to Avenue O. There, turn left and proceed south to the old, northern-most entrance to William W. Powers Conservation Area. After half a block, turn left at first opportunity. Pass Nike Missile Monument, kiosk and boat launch to right; continue north past entrance from Burnham Greenway and abandoned Nike Missile Launch Site and stop in large parking lot adjacent to site.
En route to this site, note at 117th Street the building on left. Formerly Memorial Hall and home to Steel Workers Local 1033, it is dedicated to those who lost their lives in the labor protest on Memorial Day, 1937, at Republic Steel. It is now the Zone, a youth and community center operated by the East Side United Methodist Church. On the right side of Avenue O, about a quarter of a mile west, is the site of the massacre.