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Pyramid State Park Land purchases expand opportunities for outdoor enthusiasts.
STORY BY GARY THOMAS Question: What's the name of Illinois' largest state park? If you guessed Pere Marquette or Jim Edgar Panther Creek (technically a state fish and wildlife area), you'd be wrong. That was last year. And when I tell you the correct answer is Pyramid State Park, you might have a follow-up question, such as: Where's Pyramid State Park? Pyramid State Park has been one of those well-kept secrets—a quiet, little state park located south of Pinckneyville in Perry County. But that's "little" as in past tense. The 3,200-acre park got a boost in size in December when Gov. George H. Ryan announced the purchase of more than 16,000 acres of adjoining land from the Arch Coal Company to be added to the site—the largest land acquisition of its kind in state history. The first two phases of the acquisition, totaling more than 7,200 acres, were completed in December. With that purchase, Pyramid went from having about 3,200 acres to more than 10,000 acres, easily surpassing Pere Marquette as the state's largest state park. When the remaining 8,000 acres are purchased this summer, the site's acreage will increase to 19,000-plus acres, more than double the size of Pere Marquette. "The natural characteristics of this area will provide the public with expanded opportunities for hunting, fishing, wildlife habitat, protection of open space and general outdoor recreation," Gov. Ryan said in announcing the purchase of the land. "People from St. Louis and Paducah are only 75 miles away. Peoria, Springfield, Evansville, Ind., and Memphis, Tenn., are only a few hours drive. The close proximity to these urban areas, coupled with the size of the site and the diversity of activities that can be offered, means enhanced tourism and economic development in this area." "This announcement is history in the making," said Natural Resources Department Director Brent Manning. "It demonstrates the Governor's strong commitment to investing in open space and in the people of southern Illinois." Built on unreclaimed strip mine land, the original part of Pyramid State Park is wild and scenic.
Featuring numerous lakes and small ponds, Pyramid State Park is an angler's paradise. Pyramid State Park gets its name from a coal company that once existed there. The original 924 acres were acquired from Southern Illinois University in 1968. The university used the land for research. Additional purchases of adjoining land from small coal companies and surrounding landowners increased the acreage to nearly 3,175 acres, which included more than 350 acres of water in small lakes and ponds. "Most of the land making up the original part of the state park has been strip mined," said Dave Phillips, Pyramid State Park site superintendent. "This land was mined before reclamation laws were enacted, so it's pretty rough. A lot of people looked at the land and thought it wasn't good for anything anymore. But it's ideal for fish and wildlife, and that attracts a lot of anglers and hunters to this park"
Phillips said the park today is a series of heavily forested hills interspersed with small lakes and ponds. Fishing is the predominant warm-weather activity at the site, and is allowed in all of the park's 30 lakes and ponds. There are ramps at seven of the larger lakes, but boating is allowed on all the lakes. Many anglers carry in car-top boats and canoes to some of the more remote areas. This is especially nice for anglers who like to get away from crowds. There is a 10-horsepower limit on all Pyramid State Park waters. Anglers will find good populations of largemouth bass and bluegill in most of the ponds and lakes. There also is good fishing for crappie and redear sunfish in some lakes. Boulder, the site's largest lake with about 45 acres, and Crystal Lake are stocked annually with channel catfish and have excellent populations of this species. Lost Lake, one of the hike-in lakes, is noted for its population of hybrid sunfish. With the purchase of the new acreage, anglers at Pyramid will have lots more water to fish, including several lakes that have not yet filled. Like the lakes in the current park acreage, these lakes have been created by strip mining operations. Phillips said the largest lake will be about 275 acres—a body of water about 1 1/2 miles long and about 100 yards wide. Two other lakes will be more than a mile long. Camping and picnicking also are popular during warmer months.
Phillips said Pyramid has four campgrounds with 54 Class C (access by vehicle, but no electricity or shower facilities) sites, plus 25 Class D (primitive) hike-in sites. Water and a trailer dump station are located near the site's office. The hike-in areas are along the park's 16 1/2-mile hiking trail. Each spot includes a picnic table, fire grill and trash barrel. There also is a small equestrian camping area and a youth group area. The park has about 20 picnic areas, but due to the rolling terrain, they all are fairly small. There also is one shelter area. There currently is no reservation system, so campgrounds, picnic
areas and the site's shelter all are available on a first-come, first-served basis. The 16 1/2-mile trail can be accessed from a number of areas in the park and is available for both hikers and horseback riders. The trail is closed to equestrians from Nov. 1 through April 14, and to everyone during the firearm, muzzleloading and handgun deer seasons. The most popular activity at the park is hunting. The park has archery, firearm, muzzleloading and handgun hunting for white-tailed deer, plus wild turkey (spring only), rabbit, quail and waterfowl seasons. Phillips said the current acreage is separated into two hunting areas—the main part of the park and the East Conant Hunting Area. While the main part allows traditional hunting, the East Conant area is one of the state's quality hunting sites. This latter site is several thousand acres, has never been mined, and includes tillable ground, fence rows and wooded areas. "Deer hunters can only take male white-tailed deer that have a minimum of four points on each side," Phillips said. "In addition, quail and rabbit hunters have to apply in September for permits to hunt these species, and there are only a limited number of hunting days. While this has created some extra paperwork, the program has been a real success. We're seeing nice increases in all of the wildlife populations, including some really large bucks. We're very pleased with the program. The East Conant Area has developed into an outstanding hunting area." Firearm and muzzleloader deer hunters, plus spring turkey hunters, are required to apply for special site permits and must specify either Pyramid State Park or the East Conant Hunting Area on their application. "Currently, waterfowl hunting is available only at the East Conant Hunting Area," Phillips said. "We allow hunting throughout the regular duck and goose seasons, but hunters are required to get a permit at the site office before hunting." Phillips said he expects additional waterfowl hunting to take place on the newly purchased lands in the future. "The new land being acquired is especially good for geese," Phillips said. "There are plantings of milo and millet on the area, so waterfowl flock to the site. At some times during the year, this area holds more ducks and geese than Crab Orchard Refuge." How will all this new land affect Pyramid State Park? "I think this is one of the best things for southern Illinois," Phillips said. "We currently average about 200,000 visitors a year at Pyramid. With all this new land and the hunting and fishing opportunities that go with it, I expect that number will triple during the next few years." He's probably right. After all, it's hard to keep an area a secret when it's the largest park in the state.
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