Belmont Prairie – Illinois Nature Preserve	

On the west side of Downers Grove there is an absolute gem of remnant virgin tall grass prairie. This dry-mesic prairie, which slopes down to a wetland, covers approximately 10 acres with a 20 acre buffer zone established to the west. One of the things that make this prairie so interesting is the unusually high ratio of flowering plants to grasses. Naturalists working in 2002 found over 300 plant species on this site. Over 225 of them were native and two were on the state list of threatened and endangered species. As measured by Swink and Wilhelm’s index of floristic quality assessment, Belmont Prairie has one of the highest ratings of the natural areas in DuPage County.
The prairie sits on the western side of the Valparaiso moraine formed by ice sheets in the Wisconsinan glacial period. The glacier attained depths of up to 5000 feet at this location and finally retreated from the Chicago region 15,000 years ago. With an elevation difference of approximately 20 feet from the relatively dry eastern end down to the marshy western end, there is a continuum of changing flora from one end of the prairie to the other. This helps to explain the very high number of species for such a small area, (for comparison, Wolf Road Prairie in suburban Westchester, which is considered to be one of the really prime examples of virgin prairie in the entire middle west, has approx. 450 species, 355 of them native, but covers 80 acres). Dry upland species such as porcupine grass and big bluestem grass are found in the upper end of the prairie while for examples; numerous sedges, rare white lady’s slippers and plants such as fen betony, three kinds of buttercup and various smartweeds and loosestrifes are found in the marshy area. 
In early spring, the prairie is carpeted with hoary puccoon, prairie violets, common blue-eyed grass and wild strawberry, to name just a few. But, perhaps the most glorious time to be out at Belmont occurs in the late spring and early summer when the magenta color of pale purple coneflowers is mixed in with brilliant orange splashes of butterfly weed and Michigan lily, lovely blues and purples of lead plant and scurfy pea against a white background of wild quinine, yarrow, wild carrot and white wild indigo.  Late summer and early fall are wonderful also, as the prairie exhibits an exquisite display of brilliant yellows provided by 7 different species of goldenrod, compass plants, prairie dock, saw-toothed sunflower and tall coreopsis. Three species of liatris create a pleasing contrast of magenta, while various species of aster (and bottle gentian) provide blues and purples.
In retrospect, it seems almost miraculous that this prairie exists at all. Somehow it escaped the plow that destroyed 99.9% of Illinois prairie acreage. For many years this 10 acres served only as a transitional piece of land between homes built to the east and farm fields planted to the west, with a dirt farm road running through the middle of the prairie as a connector. Children used the upper part of the prairie for playing fields and often set spectacular fires in the fall, (fortunately for the long term health of the prairie). This piece of land was spared development in recent times, because the property had five different owners scattered all across the United States.
In the 1970’s a man named Al DePree living near the prairie site signed up for a photography class at the nearby Morton Arboretum. The class had an assignment to photograph flowers and so Al took his pictures in the open field that was to become Belmont Prairie. The pictures he brought to the class caused a sensation. As a result, Al ended up bringing Floyd Swink of the Morton Arboretum and Robert Betz of Northeastern Illinois University to the site, (both renowned experts in their knowledge of plant communities). These men were so impressed that the Nature Conservancy was contacted and negotiations were begun to try to purchase the land. Al’s wife Margo used a part of her inheritance to purchase a third of the site and the Nature Conservancy was able to buy the rest. Then the entire parcel was transferred to the Downers Grove Park District with the stipulation that it be dedicated as an Illinois nature preserve. Subsequently, in 1979 Belmont Prairie became the first Illinois nature preserve in DuPage County. 
Robert Betz and other prairie experts taught personnel from the Downers Grove Park District how to maintain and enhance the prairie environment by annual burning and brush removal. These practices are carried out today by a mix of volunteers and park district staff.
For those who wish to enjoy the beauty of Belmont Prairie, the site is open daily from sunup to sundown. A loop path leads one from the parking lot into the top part of the prairie and then down the slope into the wetter end so that the visitor can observe the transition from dry-mesic prairie to wet prairie in a short walk.
Directions to the prairie are as follows;
In Downers Grove, from the junction of Route 34 (Ogden Ave.) and Belmont Road on the west side of Downers, take Belmont Road south 0.6 miles to Haddow Ave. Go west on Haddow 0.5 miles to Cross St. and turn north. The parking lot is on the west side of Cross St. a few hundred yards north of Haddow.