Along Route 66 between Joliet and Wilmington, a unique undertaking is working to re-create the natural ecosystem on one of the most environmentally damaged areas imaginable: 19,000 acres of the old Joliet Army Ammunition Plant is being converted into the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie Preserve (limited public access; 815/423-6370). Since 1996, when the land was transferred from the Army to the Forest Service, the change from producing TNT to regrowing the native tallgrass prairie has been slow and steady, and after five-plus years of toxic cleanups and careful husbandry it now offers hiking and biking trails, and frequent guided tours of the site. You get a good feeling for the flora and fauna that would have existed naturally in places like this all over the Midwest.
