List of protected areas of Illinois

These multiple levels of protection contribute to a statewide network of numerous recreation opportunities and conservation schemes, sometimes in a small area.

[3] Specifically, “State Park” refers to sites “exhibiting exceptional scenic and natural features and terrain” and that “offer a wide range of recreational opportunities for the public to enjoy”.

[4] Areas whose primary purpose is to “reserve land and water areas for production and conservation of fish or wildlife and to provide hunting, fishing, trapping, observation, and other forms of compatible recreational use.”[4] Areas of land which “either retains or has recovered to a substantial degree its original natural or primeval character, though it need not be completely undisturbed, or has floral, faunal, ecological, geological or archaeological features of scientific, educational, scenic or esthetic interest.”[4]

Two of the eight World Heritage Site structures exemplifying the 20th-Century architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright are also located in Illinois: Unity Temple and the Robie House, and are protected by local and federal schemes.

In addition to cultural sites, Illinois contains five wetland areas designated as wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar Convention:[11] A variety of county and town protected areas exist in Illinois, including city park districts and county-wide Forest Preserve or Conservation Districts, as well as land owned by private conservation organizations.