Shawnee Hills

This formation is due in part to the last glaciation of the Ice Age (which tended to grind down hills and bury them under soil) not reaching this far south.

Within the Shawnee Hills, limestone is extensively quarried from outcrops, while both north and south of the Shawnee Hills, coal is mined by surface techniques on shallow coal seams near the edges of the Illinois Basin and by deep mining techniques in the deeper parts of the Basin.

Additionally, extensive faulting in and around the Shawnee Hills occurred due to deep tectonic activities and formed sites for deposition of fluorite, a mineral used for production of the element fluorine.

The westernmost portion of the hills rise south of Murphysboro and continue southward to Olive Branch.

Large plains used for farmland separate the hills from the Mississippi River along Illinois Route 3, especially near the towns of Wolf Lake, Grand Tower and Ware.