Click on Special Events link for info about the annual Voyageur Rendezvous
Welcome to Grand Kankakee Marsh County Park
Park open 7 am - sunset in January - September
Grand Kankakee
Marsh GPS coordinates: 41.220505,-87.276058
Exit
Interstate 65 at Route 2 (Lowell/Hebron exit) then east to Range Line Road
(Clay Street). Travel south for 5 miles to the park.
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Click for hunting information
Hunting, wildlife and bird viewing, biking, hayride tours and canoe workshops make up the majority of recreation opportunities at the Marsh. The levees are also heavily used as bridle trails. GKM, along with Stoney Run and Deep River, are the Lake County Parks where the public may ride their horses. For the past 19 years, the park has been the site of the annual Voyageur Rendezvous, a living history reenactment of the early French fur trade era that presents educational information in a colorful re-creation.
WELCOME
TO GRAND KANKAKEE MARSH COUNTY PARK
Located
along the historic Kankakee River, the park is dynamically affected by
seasonal flooding. This, along
with different natural communities, provides ideal feeding in the fields
for a variety of wildlife. Densely
wooded areas and the remnants of old river channels provide excellent
habitat for a large deer herd, many species of ducks, and other wildlife.
Preservation of these natural habitats is one of the primary goals
of the Lake County Parks and Recreation Department.
GKM
was acquired in 1977 with assistance from the Nature Conservancy.
Through the years the marsh has been developed and managed for
wildlife as well as public use. The
careful management and regulation of hunting seasons has helped to make
this property a noteworthy hunting area.
The
majority of the park land was acquired through grants.
In 1977 $425,000 was provided by the Land and Water Conservation
Fund for the purchase of 872 acres. Since
then many other grants, donations, and purchases have been combined to
increase the park site to 2,069 acres.
In
1991, the park department received an Indiana Waters Grant of $250,000
(Dingle/Johnson Funds) to construct public access site on Kankakee River
at Grand Kankakee Marsh. Special
design included floating finger pier that rides with the 12 high
and low levels of the river. Parking
for ten cars with trailers adjoins handicapped accessible ramp.
Other
dates of interest for the Grand Kankakee Marsh County Park
1977
Lake County Parks received Land Water Conservation Fund grant (LWCF)
and acquired 300 acres from TNC at the Grand Kankakee Marsh together with
remaining land options.
LCPRD acquired remaining
parcels through proceeds from a General Obligation Bond Issue (861" acres) at GKM
1979
Grand Kankakee Marsh County Park dedicated 920 acres of marsh
land as the only county managed fish and game area in Indiana.
1991
Plans for a 160 acre Wetland Restoration Project are developed for
the Hog Marsh Unit at the Grand Kankakee Marsh as part of a system-wide
Bond Issue.
1992
Waterfowl USA and the USFWS Partners for Wildlife Program assist
LCPRD in developing the 120 acre Little Hickory Unit at GKM.
Ducks Unlimited proposed to redesign Hog Marsh as 270 acre Moist
Soil Management Unit and finance the project via local Life Sponsors. They
expanded the project by 100 acres and were able to construct the project
for less than the original estimate of $150,000.
1996
IGKMRP received Phase II NAWCA Grant of $1,000,000 for GMK.
Ducks Unlimited developed plans for a 520 acre Moist Soil Unit at Goose Lake
1998
Construction began at Goose Lake after 18 month permit process is
concluded.
A
brief history of the Grand Kankakee Marsh
1834
First settlers arrive
1837
The first bridge over West Creek is built
1838
The remainder of the Potowatomi Indians in the region are gathered
together in Plymouth, taken to Chicago, then relocated to Kansas.
1850
By an act of U.S. Congress, the national government gives title to
the swamp lands of the Kankakee to the State of Indiana
1855
The upper portion of Eagle Creek Ditch is excavated with a plan to
enter the river one mile east of the Illinois state line.
1869
Camp Milligan is built by Heartand Milligan of Chicago.
This is the beginning of the heyday of the hunt clubs.
1871
Chicago Fire Resulted in the removal from the Marsh of large
red oak, white oak, beech, and maple sent to Chicago to rebuild the city.
1872
The Cumberland Lodge is built.
1873
The Singleton Ditch is dug using steam shovel and connected to the
Eagle Creek Ditch. By 1911 the
Singleton was cleaned and enlarged at least twice so that the flood waters
of several creeks and ditches that connected to it could be carried to the
river.
1878
White House Hunting Club is built
1879
Rockville-Terre Haute and the Indianapolis club houses are built at
Baums Bridge. About the same
time the Diana Club and the Fogli Hotel are built.
The Grand Kankakee Marsh is recognized as one of the best waterfowl
hunting areas in the world. Hunters
supply the markets in Chicago with wagonloads of waterfowl and deer.
1885
The Big Brown Ditch is dug south of and parallel to the Singleton
varying from one to two miles away. The
Brown empties into the Singleton NW of Schneider.
1889
The Indiana State Legislature passes measures for the sale of lands
bordering the river. The State
in 1889 and 1893 appropriates a total of $65,000 to remove the natural dam
rock ledge in Momence, Illinois.
1893
The rock ledge dam at Momence is removed.
1900
Land speculators move in. The
Lacrosse Land Company, Tuesberg and McWilliams Land Company, Strauss
Brothers of Chicago, B.J.Gifford of Kankakee City and several smaller
concerns accumulate nearly 100,000 acres of swampland with 40 miles of
river front.
1902
Formation of the Kankakee Reclamation Company objective to
further deepen, widen, and straighten the river from South Bend down to
the Porter County Line. The
fall of the river will increase from 5.34 inches per mile to 14.2 inches
per mile. The bends will be
removed so that 45 miles of rever length will be reduced to 17 miles.
150,000 acres of swampland will be drained by this action.
1903
to 1922
The Jasper Circuit Court ordered the river be straightened and
deepened from the east line of Jasper County to section 1, range 9 west in
Newton County. This section of
the river is to be called the Marble Ditch.
Specifications for the Marble Ditch: bottom width 100 feet, with
side slopes of bank 1 to 1, and the grade of fall 1 foot per mile.
After a contract was let for the construction of the Marble Ditch a
petition was filed in the Newton County Circuit Court to straighten and
deepen the Kankakee River from the west end of Marble Ditch to the
Illinois state line, this section to be called the Williams Ditch.
The river dredging and associated ditch connections that drained
the Grand Kankakee Marsh were completed in 1922.
Summary
The
Grand Kankakee Marsh that bordered the Kankakee River once consisted of
between 500,000 and 600,000 acres of marsh land in Indiana.
It
was from two to fifteen miles wide for the length of the river in Indiana
and was the largest contiguous marsh in Indiana and one of the largest on
the continent.
To
understand how such a magnificent Marsh could be obliterated, one must
consider the prevailing sentiment in the country at the time.
The push was one to settle the area and then stake claim to the
land further West. Settlement,
at the time, meant agriculture.
Portions of the Kankakee Marsh soil were a black, sandy loam, three to six feet deep. This was potential prime farm land, all that needed to be done was to remove the water. Once the actual draining process began and well connected land speculators became involved, the drainage project became unstoppable. The voices of those who objected to the project could not be heard over the din of the activities of the steam shovels.
FOR SHELTER RESERVATIONS CALL
Phone: 219-769-PARK (7275)
Lake County Parks and Recreation Department Corporate Office
8411 East Lincoln Highway, Crown Point, Indiana 46307
Just west of Deep River Waterpark 4.5 miles east of I-65 on Route 30