State Preserves

State Preserves

Strasser Woods State Preserve

Strasser Woods State Preserve is a 40-acre tract of forest withinDes Moines, containing an upland forest and a bottomland featuring a bicycle trail and creek.

State Preserves

Stinson Prairie State Preserve

Stinson Prairie is a 32-acre prairie featuring a variety of marshes and glacial erratics, and is home to nearly 200 species of plants, birds, and butterflies.

State Preserves

Searryl's Cave State Preserve

Searryl’s Cave State Preserve is a 43-acre area featuring a natural cave, which holds the largest wintering bat population of any Iowa cave.

State Preserves

Rock Creek Island State Preserve

Rock Creek Island is a 30-acre wooded island in the Cedar River, .5 miles upstream from Rochester, and features a variety of tree species.

State Preserves

Retz Woods State Preserve

Lyle Retz Memorial Woods is a 49-acre preserve in the Paleozoic Plateau with over 130 vascular plant species and a deep ravine with historic limestone ridges.

State Preserves

Pilot Knob State Preserve

Pilot Knob State Preserve is a 238-acre area in Pilot Knob State Park in northeastern Hancock County, featuring a classic glacial kame and over 420 plants.

State Preserves

Pecan Grove State Preserve

Pecan Grove State Preserve is a 23-acre remnant of bottomland forest noted for a grove of pecan trees. This preserve is not accessible to the public.

State Preserves

Mount Talbot State Preserve

Mount Talbot State Preserve is a 90-acre area featuring a rugged Loess Hills landscape with forested slopes and prairie-capped ridges.

State Preserves

Mossy Glen State Preserve

Mossy Glen is an 80-acre forested preserve with over 300 plants, sixty species of birds, and outcrops of 430-millon-year-old dolomite.

State Preserves

Merritt Forest State Preserve

Merritt Forest is a 20-acre “virgin” old-growth forest within the Paleozoic Plateau landform region, and has nearly 200 plant species.

State Preserves

Indian Fish Trap State Preserve

Indian Fish Trap is a 1-acre preserve featuring a prehistoric fish trap constructed as a rock weir in the channel of the Iowa River.

State Preserves

Hoffman Prairie State Preserve

Hoffman Prairie is a 36-acre preserve featuring a prairie pothole—a shallow marsh surrounded by native tallgrass prairie.

State Preserves

Hanging Bog State Preserve

Hanging Bog is a 16-acre preserve containing a deeply shaded hillside seep with a large population of skunk cabbage.

State Preserves

Fish Farm Mounds State Preserve

Fish Farm Mounds State Preserve is a 3-acre prehistoric cemetery (mound group) located in the southern portion of Fish Farm Mounds Wildlife Area.

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