The Weston Cemetery Prairie is a mesic tallgrass prairie remnant, described variously as being 5.61 acres (2.2 hectares) or 3.2 acres (1.3 hectares) in size, located 0.5 miles (0.8 km) east of Weston, Illinois, an unincorporated community in McLean County, Illinois. It is listed as a Category I site on the Illinois Natural Areas Inventory and is actively managed with periodic burns and exotic species control efforts.
History and today
Weston Prairie is a surviving fragment from a parcel of land that was set aside by early residents in 1870 to serve as a township cemetery. Although the parcel appears to have fallen out of active use as a burial ground around 1900, part of the parcel escaped the plow and was still in existence in the 1970s when surviving fragments of Illinois tallgrass prairie were located and inventoried.
The prairie is noted for exceptional plant diversity, with nearly 100 separate species identified on the tiny site. Forbs include the dwarf prairie rose, prairie shooting star, and spiderwort. Grasses include the prairie dropseed. From U.S. Route 24, access to the prairie can be achieved by means of a half-mile-long ungraded dirt road easement.
The nearest limited-access highway interchange is Exit 187 on Interstate 55.