Palisades-Dows State Preserve

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State Preserves

Palisades-Dows State Preserve is a 330-acre, rugged forested area with cliffs (“palisades”) bordering the Cedar River. It is located across the Cedar River from Palisades-Kepler State Park in Linn County. 

The first tract of land in the preserve was acquired by the Iowa Conservation Commission in 1922. In 1962, Sutherland Dows donated 150 acres just south of the state land to the Linn County Conservation Board. In 1980, 250 acres of state land plus 80 acres of county land were dedicated as a biological and geological state preserve. 

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About the Land

Located at the northern edge of the Southern Iowa Drift Plain landform region, Palisades-Dows Preserve takes its name from the sheer cliffs of Silurian dolomite flanking the Cedar River. The topography of the preserve is highly dissected with several deep ravines variously named Blow Out Hollow, Spring Hollow, and Dark Hollow. 

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Directions

  1. From the intersection of I-380 and Highway 30 on the south edge of Cedar Rapids, take Highway 30 east 4.75 miles to Jappa Road (sign: Palisades-Dows Preserve and Observatory). 
  2. Turn south (right) and go 0.8 mile to Ivanhoe Road. Turn east (left) onto Ivanhoe Road and follow this winding road for about 5 miles to the Palisades Preserve and Observatory. 
  3. From the intersection of I-80 and Highway 1 on the north edge of Iowa City, drive north on Highway 1 for about 14 miles (through the town of Solon) to Ivanhoe Road, just before the bridge over the Cedar River (arrow sign: Palisades-Dows Preserve and Observatory). 
  4. Turn west (left) and go 2 miles to the Palisades Preserve and Observatory. 
  5. Park in the observatory parking lot. Walk west past the observatory to the northwest corner of the mowed area to a footpath leading into the woods. 
  6. Follow the path to northwest along a ridgetop and down the streambed of Dark Hollow, ending at the Cedar River.
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Plants

Forests in the preserve are dominated by:

  • White oak
  • Red oak
  • Shagbark hickory
  • Sugar maple
  • Basswood 

Ironwood, blue beech, and alternate-leaved dogwood are found in the understory. 

In the spring, hepatica, spring beauty, and hairy blue violet begin blooming as early as March, followed by:

  • Wild ginger
  • Squirrel corn
  • Toothwort
  • White trout-lily
  • Showy orchis
  • Nodding trillium
  • Bellwort

Smooth goldenrod, blue wood aster, and arrow-leaved aster are among the species finishing the year. 

Walking fern, slender cliff-brake, northern maidenhair, bulblet bladder, and fragile ferns and many species of liverworts and mosses cover the bluffs and rocks. 

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Historical Significance

In 1869, James S. Minott, veteran of the Civil War, found an eight-by-eight-foot cave in Blow Out Hollow where he created a small place to live, later to be known as “Minott’s Cave.” 

In the late 1890s, Minott bought 160 acres on the north side of the Cedar River and sold small lots for summer cottages. Minott also built a hotel there, which contained a restaurant, general store, and boat livery. 

His great firsthand knowledge of the plants and animals of the river, cliffs, and forest soon contributed to the Palisades becoming a popular recreation area. 

The Palisades were used in prehistoric as well as historical times. Rock shelters in the larger ravines are among the best Woodland period sites in Iowa. 

In 1941, as two men were working on a cottage near Blow Out Hollow, they rediscovered Minott’s Cave. Further investigation uncovered artifacts used by prehistoric Indians. 

Dr. Charles Keyes, a well-known archaeologist, began exploring the area and found several other rock shelters in the area of Spring Hollow. Many occupation sites in these rock shelters dating from the Early to Late Woodland periods have been found throughout the preserve. 

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Birds & Species

Among the birds found in the preserve are neotropical migrants such as warblers and vireos. Neotropical migrants found here that need large tracts of unbroken forest for successful breeding include:

  • The Acadian flycatcher
  • Scarlet tanager
  • American redstart
  • Louisiana waterthrush
  • Ovenbird
  • Kentucky warbler
  • Wood thrush
  • Yellow-throated vireo 

Other forest birds found here include:

  • Pileated, red-headed, and red-bellied woodpeckers
  • Carolina wren
  • Cooper’s hawk
  • Red- and white-breasted nuthatches
  • Hermit thrush
  • Evening grosbeak 

A great blue heron rookery is present in one of the larger ravines.

Other natural or geological areas in the vicinity include Palisades-Kepler State Park and Merrill A. Stainbrook and Old State Quarry State Preserves.

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