Fig. 26.-- One of the small prairie openings on a ridge top on the western side of Fountain Bluff. 
The prairie openings are small and most of them 
are on the ridge tops, fig. 26. The one sizable hill 
prairie of this area is situated on the southwest- 
facing ravine slope at the northern end of Fountain 
Bluff (Evers 1955). The dominant grass of the prairie 
types is little bluestem; big bluestem and Indian 
grass are not uncommon. 
15. GRAND CANYON 
Grand Canyon natural area, located about 8 
miles southwest of Murphysboro, Jackson County, oc- 
cupies the southeast quarter of section 35 and the 
southwest quarter of section 36, T. 9 S., R. 3 W., the 
west half of section 1, and much of section 2, T. 10 
S., R. 3 W.; it is more than 700 acres in extent. The 
names Chalk Bluff, Hickory Ridge, and Viney Ridge 
are applied to the area or to parts of it. 
This natural area is a part of the bluff system of 
the Mississippi River valley. From the floodplain the 
bluffs rise precipitously 360 feet, reaching an altitude 
of 720 feet above sea level. The tall, west-facing 
20 
cliff in section 2 is about 0.75 mile in length and is 
named Chalk Bluff. The cliff is plainly visible from 
Fountain Bluff, 4 miles to the west, and from other 
points in the river valley. Above the tall cliff lies a 
stony slope; loess caps the bluff. 
To the north of Chalk Bluff is a large valley, not 
quite 0.25 mile across, that is tributary to the Missis- 
sippi. This tributary valley, known as Grand Canyon, 
has steep walls and cliffs. To the south of Chalk 
Bluff is Clear Creek. This stream flows in a rather 
broad valley approximately 0.5 mile wide and enters 
the Big Muddy River, which here flows southward 
through the Mississippi River floodplain. From Grand 
Canyon, sizable ravines trend upslope to the south 
and from Clear Creek valley similar ravines trend 
upslope to the north to dissect the area into a series 
of deep ravines separated by ridges. The main ridge, 
which trends eastward from Chalk Bluff, almost mid- 
way between Grand Canyon and Clear Creek, is known 
as Viney Ridge. A half mile east of Chalk Bluff is 
Hickory Ridge. On this ridge the United States Forest 
