With fully developed facilities for picnicking, camping, hiking, swimming, fishing, boating, horseback riding and hunting, the 1,687-acre Moraine View State Recreation Area, with its 158-acre lake, is a beautiful, convenient and accessible locale for relaxation and recreation.

When the glaciers of the last Ice Age moved through central Illinois 15,000 years ago, they pushed massive amounts of rock and earth before them, leaving in their wake long and expansive ridges that ripple across the landscape. These irregular crests are called moraines, and on their gentle swells and their broad valleys are scattered groves of white oak, red oak, black walnut, maple, hickory, ash and elm.

One of the four largest of these moraines in Illinois -- the Bloomington Moraine -- stretches across the state from Elgin to the Illinois River at Peoria east to Saybrook. In the middle of this sprawling feature, Moraine View State Recreation Area -- just minutes east of Bloomington/Normal off I-74 -- provides an ideal opportunity to enjoy both the tranquil natural beauty of Midwestern woodland and refreshing outdoor activity.

History

When early Europeans first arrived in this area, they found the Kickapoo and Potawatomi Indian tribes peacefully sharing the countryside. Following the War of 1812, the tribes signed a treaty with the Europeans enabling them to continue to live on the land and take game until white settlers moved in. In 1830 there were 630 Kickapoo living in a village in "Old Town Timber" south of Ellsworth.

The scattered groves of timber along the streams provided these early settlers with shelter from the bitter winds of winter, building materials, fuel and shade. The wet, sometimes marshy, prairie lands, though tough and difficult to turn with their primitive implements, were gradually drained or cleared, and small farms sprang up everywhere, taking advantage of the rich fertile soils left by the glacial retreat.

By the middle of the 20th century, it became apparent that the heavily farmed countryside -- situated as it was in an area whose topography and terrain precluded many good lake sites -- would require artificial manipulation to provide and maintain a water-based recreation area for it's steadily increasing population.

In 1957, preliminary surveys were made, and in 1959 the State of Illinois purchased 760 acres in Dawson Township. Clearing contracts were awarded in 1960, and by July of 1962 construction had begun on a dam on the North Fork tributary of Salt Creek between U.S.150 and Illinois Route 9. The resulting lake, called Dawson Lake after the families of early settlers, was opened for fishing in 1963.

Originally known as the McLean County Conservation Area, additional acquisitions have expanded the area to its present 1,687 acres, and in 1975 it was designated as Moraine View State Recreation Area. Development of full recreational facilities has since made this one of the state's sterling examples of how economic and social necessity also can provide opportunities for conservation and recreation.

Directions

From I 74, Exit #149 at LeRoy. Follow signs into LeRoy. Turn left on US 150 to Casey General Store. Turn Right on LeRoy-Lexington blacktop (County Hwy. 21). North to sign (Moraine View State Park), next Right. Follow road into park, past main entrance to flagpole.

Moraine View State Recreation Area
27374 Moraine View Park Rd.
LeRoy, IL 61752