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Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve

1925 establishments in IllinoisDarien, IllinoisForests of IllinoisIllinois protected area stubsNature reserves in Illinois
Protected areas established in 1925Protected areas of DuPage County, Illinois
Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve
Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve

Waterfall Glen is a forest preserve in Downers Grove Township, DuPage County, Illinois, between the towns of Darien and Lemont, covering 2,492 acres (1,008 ha). It contains several waterfalls on Sawmill Creek as it empties into the Des Plaines River. Rocky Glen Falls, the largest waterfall in the preserve, is actually a natural dam in the valley glen. In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps helped restore the waterfall to its naturally tiered state, after years of erosion due to runoff from a nearby mill. It completely surrounds Argonne National Laboratory. It is also home to a popular model airplane field, located in the southwest section of the forest preserve. Hikers can also make the interior trip to St. Patrick Cemetery nestled deep in the preserve. Waterfall Glen's tallgrass prairies, bogs, and Midwestern oak savannas contain 740 native plant species, 75 percent of all the plants known to grow naturally in DuPage County. Over 300 species of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, and reptiles and another 300 species of invertebrates use the forest preserve, either year-round or during their migrations.

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Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve
South Frontage Road,

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N 41.725 ° E -87.973611111111 °
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South Frontage Road
60561
Illinois, United States
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Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve
Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve
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Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory

Argonne National Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center in Lemont, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1946, the laboratory is owned by the United States Department of Energy and administered by UChicago Argonne LLC of the University of Chicago. The facility is the largest national laboratory in the Midwest. Argonne had its beginnings in the Metallurgical Laboratory of the University of Chicago, formed in part to carry out Enrico Fermi's work on nuclear reactors for the Manhattan Project during World War II. After the war, it was designated as the first national laboratory in the United States on July 1, 1946. In its first decades, the laboratory was a hub for peaceful use of nuclear physics; nearly all operating commercial nuclear power plants around the world have roots in Argonne research. More than 1,000 scientists conduct research at the laboratory, in the fields of energy storage and renewable energy; fundamental research in physics, chemistry, and materials science; environmental sustainability; supercomputing; and national security. Argonne formerly ran a smaller facility called Argonne National Laboratory-West (or simply Argonne-West) in Idaho next to the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. In 2005, the two Idaho-based laboratories merged to become the Idaho National Laboratory.Argonne is a part of the expanding Illinois Technology and Research Corridor.

Darien Sportsplex Ice Arena
Darien Sportsplex Ice Arena

Darien Sportsplex Ice Arena is an arena and recreational sport facility in Darien, Illinois, United States. It features three NHL size sheets of ice for hockey, figure skating, and open skating. The facility also has a full-size indoor field house, a meeting room, an ice hockey Pro Shop, a concession stand, and a hockey training center. Current seating capacity for ice hockey games is 1,250. The arena has many programs that accommodate all ages. The Spring Hockey League is for kids in high school. Little Hawks Camp offers many activities. In Learn to Skate, a child and or adult of any age is taught how to skate for the purpose of playing hockey in the future. Learn to Play is an offshoot of Learn to Skate. This is for children four to ten years old who are taught by teachers who have a background in hockey, to teach the natural progression of the game itself. Drills for Skills is for kids 14 years and younger, who are trained to maintain and develop the technical aspects of playing hockey. The In-House Leagues is for players who are ready for team play, have gone through a tryout, and have been chosen as part of a team. The 3ON3 League offers a faster pace of hockey, designed to give players the opportunity to play with the puck more and develop self-control on the ice. The Sportsplex's figure skating program includes Skate School, which is designed to help kid and adult who are interested in learning how to skate, whether for fun or competitively. Tryouts determine participants' placement and instructors. Soccer activities at the Sportsplex include the Eclipse Select Super Rec League. This includes kids in preschool through eighth grade, who are placed on teams. Kids of different ages play one another and develop soccer skills on practice days. The LDL Skills School (Live it, Dream it, Love it) is designed for players to gain technique and confidence in the game of soccer. The facility also offers adult soccer leagues. The arena has open public skating, which allows anyone who wishes to free skate on certain days. There is a resident fee and a non-resident fee. Rat Hockey allows participants who are eighteen years or older to form a team and play on specific days. SEASPAR is also held in the meeting room. The three ice arenas, meeting room, and field house are all available for rental. Pricing is dependent on the length of time of the rental. The arena is home to the Chicago Hawks Hockey Club, Darien Figure Skating School, Darien Youth Club, and the Illinois High School Hockey League.

Chicago Area Waterway System
Chicago Area Waterway System

The Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS) is a complex of natural and artificial waterways extending through much of the Chicago metropolitan area, covering approximately 87 miles altogether. It straddles the Chicago Portage and is the sole navigable inland link between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River and makes up the northern end of the Illinois Waterway.The CAWS includes various branches of the Chicago and Calumet Rivers, as well as other channels such as the North Shore Channel, Cal-Sag Channel, and Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal. The CAWS ends near the Lockport Navigational Pool, the highest elevated of the eight pools of the Illinois Waterway. There are three major locks within the CAWS, operated by the Army Corps of Engineers: the Chicago Harbor Lock, the Lockport Lock & Dam, and the T.J. O'Brien Lock and Dam.Artificial waterways connecting the Mississippi and Great Lakes systems via the Chicago area, over the Chicago Portage, began with the I&M Canal in 1848. The CAWS as it exists today began to take shape in 1900, with the construction of the Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal to reverse the flow of the Chicago River (and eventually the Calumet River), which previously flowed into Lake Michigan, so as to instead flow toward the Mississippi River, thus carrying sewage away from the City of Chicago. Thereafter, additional artificial waterways were built that became part of the CAWS, such as the North Shore Channel, which runs inland from Wilmette to the Chicago River and was constructed in 1910, and the Cal Sag Channel, which provides a direct path from the Calumet River to the Illinois Waterway and was finished in 1922.In the 21st century, a focus of concern around the CAWS has been its potential role as a corridor for Asian carp to enter Lake Michigan. Suits in district court and before the United States Supreme Court have been unable to obtain an injunction requiring the connection between the CAWS and the Mississippi drainage to be closed.