The
Shawnee National Forest is a
United States National Forest located in the Ozark and
Shawnee Hills of
Southern Illinois,
United States. Administered by the
U.S.D.A. Forest Service, it consists of approximately 280,000 acres (1,100 km²) of federally managed lands. In descending order of land area it is located in parts of
Pope,
Jackson,
Union,
Hardin,
Alexander,
Saline,
Gallatin,
Johnson, and
Massac counties. Forest headquarters are located in
Harrisburg, Illinois. There are local
ranger district offices in
Jonesboro and
Vienna. The Shawnee National Forest is also the single largest publicly owned body of land in the state of Illinois.