Fig. 41.— A selaginella, Selaginella apoda, 
grows on the moist sandstone of Hayes Creek Canyon, 
24. LUSK CREEK CANYON 
Lusk Creek Canyon, also known as Lusk Creek 
Gorge, is the most beautiful stream valley in southern 
Illinois and perhaps in the entire state. Lusk Creek 
drains much of northeastern Pope County. Its source 
is near Delwood, a small community on Illinois high- 
way 145. As the creek flows southward, it is joined 
by numerous tributary streams and finally empties 
into the Ohio River at Golconda. The locality of 
special interest is the valley of Lusk Creek as it 
passes through sections 33 and 34, T. 11S., R.6E., 
about 2.5 miles east and 1.5 to 2.0 miles north of 
Eddyville. 
In this locality, Lusk Creek has cut through the 
Massive sandstone, carving a valley, canyon, or 
gorge with cliffs that vary from only a few feet to 
almost 100 feet high. In some places, the valley 
floor is moderately wide and the bluffs of the stream 
have steep toe slopes beneath the cliffs. In a few 
places, there is no valley floor except that which the 
creek occupies. The creek in some areas is shallow 
and flows swiftly around numerous rocks and over 
riffles; in others it is deep and forms quiet pools. A 
canyon in section 34 is hairpin- or horseshoe-shaped. 
The cutbank of this canyon or gorge is a towering, 
vertical sandstone cliff almost devoid of vegetation, 
fig. 42. The slip slope -- the slope opposite the cut- 
bank -- is not vertical but rather a steep sandstone 
slope that is clothed with mosses, lichens, and de- 
ciduous trees. Near the summit of this canyon is the 
Indian Kitchen. The summit of the ridge, the area 
within the horseshoe, is quite rocky; the sandstone 
is exposed as large ledges, with only a few large 
blocks near the cliff tops. 
Upstream from this beautiful gorge, Lusk Creek 
flows between steep cliffs and within 0.5 mile it 
makes a right angle bend. At this point, Bear Creek 
joins Lusk Creek. The cliffs along Bear Creek are 
tall at this junction but decrease in height upstream 
and finally disappear as the creek flows over the 
upper surface of the sandstone escarpment. The cliffs 
along Lusk Creek, upstream from the Bear Creek 
junction, are quite tall; approximately 0.5 mile north 
of the junction they reach a height that is tremendous 
for Illinois. 
Above the cliffs of Lusk Creek are slopes of 
varying steepness. The less steep slopes were cul- 
tivated in earlier days but now are deserted fields or 
have been converted into pine plantations. Some 
prairie plants thrive in the deserted fields. The up- 
land above Indian Kitchen and within the horseshoe 
supports a xeric forest, with red cedar, black-jack 
oak, and farkleberry as common plants. 
Deciduous forest covers the toe slopes of the 
bluffs. Beech, hard maple, red maple, river birch, 
alder, and sycamore grow near the stream, oaks and 
hickories higher up the slopes. The cliffs vary from 
extremely dry and lacking plant life to very moist and 
abounding in mosses, liverworts, lichens, and small 
herbaceous plants, including asters and goldenrods. 
On one of these cliffs the clubmoss Lycopodium 
complanatum var. flabelliforme, fig. 43, grows, the 
only known site of this species in Illinois. Partridge 
berry and sphagnum moss are not uncommon on the 
moist cliffs. 
Fig. 42.— The deep gorge along Lusk Creek, northeast 
of Eddyville, Pope County. The cliff supports little plant 
life; the slip slope is covered with mosses, lichens, and 
some trees. 
29 
