The largest state park in Illinoiswas once filled with coal.Today, Pyramid State Park isfull of wildlife and sportsmen.

Pyramid State

Story By Joe McFarlandPhotos By Adele Hodde

Outdoorsmen have known foryears that old, inactive mineproperty can offer somepretty worthwhile sportingopportunities. Those old

gravel pits down the road, for example,might be loaded with lunker bass andbluegill the size of dinner plates. Every

angler knows the secret. But specificdetails are whispered only amongfriends. Or that marshy, pothole-filledquarry out by the river might becomea duck-hunting paradise eachNovember. Hunters, like anglers,discuss these choice, overgrownhotspots with quiet reverence.The fact is, for as long as there have

been old mines that feature water andupland habitat, sportsmen have soughtaccess to these magnets for fish andwildlife. Those who’vebeen there know what it’slike to enter into asportsman’s paradise.If a single, old mine

that’s overgrown canoffer legendary huntingand fishing, what happenswhen thousands of acres offormer mine land—some of it

rough and rugged abandoned minedating back to the 1920s, some of itsmoothed-over recent surface mine—becomes available to sportsmen? Andwhat if all of the lands were free andopen to the public and were includedwithin Illinois’ largest state park? Theopportunities could be endless.That site can only be Pyramid State

Park in southwest Illinois.“With all of the different kinds of

habitat, it really offers something foreverybody,” said Art Rice, a grantadministrator and mining historian forthe Department of Natural Resources’

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Dozens of lakes and ponds are tucked

within the old, unreclaimed portion of

Pyramid State Park. Some of these

hard-to-reach bodies of water hide

excellent fishing opportunities.

November 2011 OutdoorIllinois / 3

ParkOffice of Mines and Minerals. Riceexplained the different kinds of habitatat Pyramid State Park (named for theold Pyramid Coal Co. which began asurface mine operation there in 1926)are the result of the evolving minereclamation laws.“Our first reclamation law began in

1962,” Rice noted. “Since Pyramid Coalwent out of business in 1959, all of theoriginal 3,000-plus acres of the statepark are unreclaimed mine land.”The story of Pyramid State Park

begins with coal mining and continuesto be influenced by mining today. The

park originally was created as a staterecreation area in 1968 when 924 acreswere transferred from Southern IllinoisUniversity, which had ongoing researchat the old Pyramid mine. Additionallands were soon added and a total of3,200 acres of mostly mined, unre-claimed land represented Pyramid StatePark throughout the 1970s and 80s. Asmall portion of 20 acres of hardwoodforest, never mined, remained on thewest edge of the new park. As treesgrew up around the gravelly hills andlakes where mining had been active,wildlife found a new home. Deer andturkeys flocked in. Some of the mineponds and lakes had been stocked evenwhile mining was still active in the1940s and 50s, and anglers began tomake some remarkable catches oflargemouth bass and panfish.

The rugged, sometimes densevegetation not only provided greatcover for wildlife, it made hunting andfishing a sporting challenge foroutdoorsmen. Access to “secret” pondsand lakes within the seemingly endlessrows of mine hills required a bit oftenacity to be reached. But that’s thebeauty of a secret spot—access is nevereasy. A few gravel roads and primitivetrails offered access to some of the oldmine hills and boat launches on largerlakes. But Pyramid remained a roughlandscape of hidden treasure for years.And then the state park added

something new. In 2001, roughly16,245 acres of reclaimed mine landadjacent to the park were acquired bythe Department of Natural Resources,then linked to the old portion of thesite. That acquisition created the largeststate park in Illinois.Covering nearly 20,000 acres in the

heart of Illinois coal country, thisformer mine-turned mega state parkwould appear to be nearly as large as asmall county. Wherever one stands

Outboard motors up to 10 h.p. are

permitted at the 24 different lakes with

boat launches. Elsewhere, portable boats

are permitted.

Designated as an Important Bird Area by

the Audubon Society, thousands of acres

of shrub and grassland at the reclaimed

portion of Pyramid provides habitat for

nesting and migratory bird stops.

within the site, it appears the entirelandscape, from horizon to horizon, isnothing but Pyramid State Park as far asthe eye can see.What’s more, this sportsman’s jewel

is being managed with a specificemphasis on providing quality huntingand fishing experiences. For anglers,that means stocked lakes and pondsprovide everything from trophy large-mouth bass to bruiser-size catfish. Withthe acquisition of scores of little pondsand lakes that already existed on thenewer, reclaimed portion (a 16,245-acre behemoth divided for managementpurposes into three defined areas),DNR District Fisheries Biologist ShawnHirst decided to mix things up.“With so many separate bodies of

water, I proposed stocking more thanthe usual mix of bass, catfish, red earsunfish and bluegill in all of the lakes,”Hirst explained. Realizing some of themine lakes were quite deep—filled withcool water—Hirst decided to offer anunexpected variety of sport fish foundonly in cooler waters up north. Somebodies of water at Pyramid featuresmallmouth bass, while others havemuskie, northern pike and walleye.“I call it golf-course fishing,” Hirst

said. “Go to one fishing hole for onespecies, move on to the next hole for adifferent species. It struck me as a greatopportunity to offer a unique fishingexperience.”And there is no shortage of

opportunities. One could fish a

different pond or lake every day forweeks at Pyramid and still not havefished all of the bodies of water locatedat Illinois’ largest state park. The siteoffice provides maps of all of the lakeswith a list of the species present in 23different bodies of water. Know thatsome of the man-made lakes within theold portion of Pyramid are hard toreach, and some of the bodies of wateryou’ll encounter are little more thansteep-sided ditches in the gravel.But many of the fisheries, including

the 23 listed on the site map, are clearlyworth the effort to seek them out.Mike Brand, a site technician at

Pyramid, said he sees many devotedanglers slip off into secret fishing holeswithin the park—and it’s obviousthey’re on to something good.

“Fishermen are tight-lipped abouttheir secrets,” Brand says. “But the factthey get out there even in cold weather,long before the spring spawning season,shows they’re more than just die-hards.”For boaters, the park has boat

launches on 24 different lakes. A 10horsepower limit applies on all lakes.Even at ponds and lakes where there isno boat launch, portable boats such ascanoes or kayaks are permitted. Notesite-specific regulations posted at eachpond or lake.And while fishing is offered

throughout most of the year some-where within Pyramid, certain bodiesof water are closed to anglers duringwaterfowl hunting season. There’s agood reason: Pyramid has become amajor waterfowling site in the region.

Pyramid offers 10,000 acres of archery-

only deer hunting on the Captain and

Denmark Units. It’s the only state site

that provides such a large acreage

dedicated to archery-only deer hunting.

Firearm deer hunters can hunt during

the late winter antlerless-only season on

these units to harvest female deer.

4 / OutdoorIllinois November 2011

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Spring wild turkey hunters have until

1 p.m. daily to bag a gobbler at Pyramid.

After 1 p.m., morel mushroom hunters

flock to this popular morel destination.

“Hunters are taking about 3,500ducks on the site each year,” said DNRDistrict Biologist Rich Whitton, whomanages the upland habitat and wildlifeprograms at Pyramid. “That’s evenmore than the traditional, topwaterfowl sites such as Union CountyConservation Area.”While fishing is allowed year-around

within the older, unreclaimed portionof Pyramid (no waterfowl hunting isallowed there), the newer, 16,000-plusacres are devoted to migratory birdhunting in season. Divided into threeseparate management units known asGalum, Captain and Denmark (namedfor former mine operations there), thenewer, reclaimed mine land features 48staked areas for waterfowlers, with dailyblind drawings on-site. A hunter factsheet listing the site-specific rules for allareas can be picked up at the site office,or accessed online (see At a Glance).Yet waterfowling isn’t the only

migratory bird attraction.“Last year Pyramid was the No. 1 site

in Illinois for dove harvest,” Whittonpointed out. “It even beat out Horse-shoe Lake near St. Louis, which hadbeen the top spot for years.” With vast,open grasslands and crop fields, there’s

plenty of room for hunters to share.“I’ve seen as many as 400 hunters onopening day,” Whitton added.For upland game hunters, quail popu-

lations are doing quite well amid therolling grasslands. Whitton reports spot-ting coveys of more than 20 birds—anattractive statistic for both hunters andfield-trial competitions that dog ownersand equestrians engage in between Sept.1 and April 15. Deer and turkey huntingalso are major draws for sportsmen.Managed as a quality hunting site,

Pyramid limits the number of deer andturkey hunters onsite. Archery as wellas firearm deer hunting are offered, andbucks must have at least four points onone side to be legal.“We’ve tried to provide a high-

quality hunting experience, whether itbe dove, quail, duck, deer or turkey,”Whitton said. “We don’t want it to beover-hunted.”At the foundation of great hunting

opportunity is great habitat, andPyramid offers wildlife plenty of habitatnot found elsewhere. Whitton said anumber of rare grassland species—species that require large, open areas ofgrassland—have adopted the reclaimedmine land at Pyramid.“It’s a mecca for threatened and

endangered grassland birds,” thebiologist noted. “The northern harrier,short-eared owl, you name it.” Even thestate-endangered greater prairie-

chicken might do well here, which iswhy some have proposed releasing apopulation of prairie-chickens here toincrease the number of Illinois siteswhere the rare bird exists.So remarkable are the birds that

utilize Pyramid, it has been identified asan Important Bird Area by the AudubonSociety. Trumpeter swans can bespotted there during the winter.When spring arrives, Pyramid heats

up for both anglers and hikers,especially those seeking wild turkeysand morel mushrooms. Turkey huntingends at 1 p.m. daily during the springseason (mushroom hunting isprohibited before 1 p.m.), and some16 miles of hiking and equestrian trailsprovide access to hotspots.Campers will find primitive sites

(no water or electric) at three differentcampgrounds within Pyramid.Construction of a rent-a-cabin is underdevelopment.As hunting season kicks into high

gear, this massive state park with itsdiversity of habitats—everything fromrolling grasslands and lakes, hardwoodand pine forests and dense, wildlife-richunreclaimed mine land—will be a mag-net for sportsmen and wildlife watch-ers. Not only is Pyramid State Park thelargest state park in Illinois, when itcomes to a sportsman’s paradise, it real-ly is the biggest thing out there.

At a GlancePyramid State Park, 1562 PyramidPark Road, Pinckneyville, IL 62274Telephone: (618) 357-2574Web site: www.dnr.state.il.us/lands/landmgt/parks/r5/pyramid.htmDirections: Located in southwest Illi-nois in Perry County, Pyramid State Parkis 4 miles south of Pinckneyville. Themain park entrance is on Illinois Route152, 1 mile west of Illinois Route 127.

As Illinois’ largest state park, Pyramid

provides vast, panoramic views of a wild

landscape that, until recent decades, was

actually an active coal mine.

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