This Illinois Road Closes Twice a Year for Snakes to Cross

Roads get closed for a variety of reasons, including construction and public events, but one road in Illinois is currently shut down to help preserve local wildlife. The U.S. Forest Service is diverting traffic away from a 2.5-mile-long road to ensure that snakes don’t get run over.

Also known as Snake Road, Forest Service Road No. 345 is located in the Shawnee National Forest, which looks like a hell of a place to go hiking, camping, and mountain biking. If you’re planning an adventure there, you’ll need to add a few miles to your trip. Forest Service Road No. 345 closed on March 12, and it won’t re-open until May 15. The Forest Service explained it closed the road early due to warmer weather.

So, why did the snake cross the road? Snakes and other amphibians, including some species that are considered threatened and endangered, make their way across Snake Road to migrate from the limestone bluffs they spend the winter in to their summer habitat near LaRue Swamp. The last thing we’d want is an endangered animal getting run over by a Wrangler, and putting up “watch out for snakes” signs wouldn’t be effective, so the best solution is to close the road for two months twice a year.

The Forest Service notes that the road remains open to foot traffic, though there’s no telling how many snakes you might encounter. You might also run into volunteers deployed to count snakes, a position called Snake Sentinel. They’re also on-site to help visitors find their way around the forest and to remind everyone of basic wildlife etiquette. It’s notably illegal to touch the snakes, if you’re into that sort of thing.

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