Free previewStop 6 of Route 66 in Illinois: Chicago to the Chain of Rocks Bridge
The Grove the Prairie Fires Missed
You're on old Route 66 in McLean County, southwest of Bloomington, and the road has just done something unusual for central Illinois. It has driven into trees. This is Funks Grove. If you're behind the wheel, keep your eyes on the road and just notice the change: open farmland gives way to woods, and the light goes green. Those woods are the whole story.
This was the Grand Prairie, an ocean of tall grass that burned again and again. Fire kills young trees, so on the open prairie trees rarely got the chance to grow up. But here, along a small stream called Timber Creek, the lay of the land held the fires back. Trees survived. White oaks, bur oaks and sugar maples grew thick along the creek, an island of forest in a sea of grass.
The Illini people tapped these sugar maples to make springtime syrup and sugar.
That's the opening. The rest plays at stop 6 of Route 66 in Illinois: Chicago to the Chain of Rocks Bridge (3 min in all). Unlock the tour to hear it all, or try stop 1 free first.
