Two Rivers National Wildlife Refuge
Two Rivers National Wildlife Refuge
Brussels, IL 62013
Phone:618-883-2524
Fax:618-883-2201
Web: www.fws.gov/midwest/TwoRivers
Established: Originally established as the Brussels district of the Mark Twain NWR in 1958. In 2000 the Mark Twain NWR was split into 5 separate refuges, including Two Rivers.
Location:17 miles west of Alton, Illinois.
Facilities:Visitor center (Calhoun unit), trails.
Activities:Fishing, boating, bicycling, berry and mushroom picking (for personal consumption), hunting (Apple Creek unit only), educational programs (by appointment).
Special Features:Provides an important link in the chain of resting, feeding, and wintering areas for migratory birds using the Mississippi Flyway. More than 5 million ducks and 50,000 geese normally funnel through this river junction on their migration.
Habitats: 8,500 acres of bottomland forests, grasslands, lakes, sloughs, and cropland.
Access: Open daylight hours except between October 15 and December 31 when refuge is closed to provide sanctuary for migrating birds.
Wild life: Grebes, White pelicans, Canada geese, wood duck, bald eagle, red-tailed hawk, slender glass lizard, speckled kingsnake, gray and Indiana bat, spotted skunk, least shrew, freckled madtom, burbot, and chub.
See other parks in Illinois.