The Pecatonica River is a tributary of the Rock River, long, in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois in the United States. The word Pecatonica is an anglicization of two Algonquian language words: Bekaa, which means "slow", and niba, which means "water", forming the conjunction Bekaaniba or "Slow Water". It rises in the hills of southwest Wisconsin, in southwest Iowa County, west of Cobb. It flows south, then southeast, past Calamine and Darlington. In southeast Lafayette County it receives the East Branch Pecatonica River, approximately north of the state line. It flows south-southeast into Illinois, past Freeport, where it turns east, then east-northeast, receiving the Sugar River near Shirland in northern Winnebago County, south of the state line. It joins the Rock at Rockton, approximately north of Rockford.
Illinois parks and preserves
The Winnebago County Forest Preserve District owns and operates six preserve along the river in Winnebago County. The river is the chief attraction of the Pecatonica Wetlands Forest Preserve and the Crooked River Forest Preserve off U.S. Highway 20 near Pecatonica, Illinois. These forest preserves contain oxbow, wetlands, and bottomland forest. The river also flows past the Pecatonica River Forest Preserve off Illinois Route 70 near Pecatonica. The forest preserve contains a bottomland forest and has been designated an Illinois Nature Preserve. The Trask Bridge Forest Preserve and the Two Rivers Forest Preserve at the confluence of the Sugar River and Pecatonica River provide public boat launches, picnic areas, and fishing opportunities. At the mouth of the Pecatonica is the Macktown Forest Preserve on Illinois Route 75 near Rockton, the site of the ghost town of Macktown or Pe-Katonic. The NaturalLand Institute of Rockford, Illinois owns and operates two privately owned preserves in Winnebago County. The Pecatonica Woodlands Preserve contains bottomland forest, oxbow pond, wetland, and sedge meadow habitats. The Nygren Wetland Preserve, located at the confluence of the Pecatonica River and the Rock River, has been restored from farmland to prairie, oak savanna, wetland, and oxbow pond.
Wisconsin parks and preserves
The river is the focus of the Pecatonica River Woods State Natural Area near Mineral Point in Iowa County, owned by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and designated as a natural area in 1992. The Pecatonica River Woods SNA was listed on the basis of possessing a diverse range of forest ecosystems, from southern dry, through mesic, to floodplain. The WeirWhite Oaks State Natural Area, a privately owned preserve managed by the Wisconsin DNR, contains high-quality old growth upland forest and was designated a state natural area in 2002. The Blackhawk Memorial Park is owned and operated by Lafayette County.
