Rock Island State Preserve

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State Preserves

Rock Island State Preserve is a 17-acre area featuring a sand prairie and an associated wetland and woodland. It is located in the northwest part of the city of Cedar Rapids in Linn County. 

The tract was given to the Linn County Conservation Board by the Rock Island Railroad Company in 1962 and was dedicated as a biological state preserve in 1978.

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About the Land

Located in the Iowan Surface landform region, the preserve stands conspicuously above the nearby Cedar River, whose valley was the source of sand blown onto adjacent uplands to form undulating sand dunes. 

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Directions

  1. From the intersection of I-380 and Highway 100 (Collins Road) on the north side of Cedar Rapids, take Collins Road west 1.5 miles to intersection with Edgewood Road. 
  2. Turn south (left) onto Edgewood Road and drive 0.5 mile to in­tersection with 42nd Street NE. 
  3. Turn west (right) onto 42nd Street and drive 1 mile to intersection with Preserve Lane (just past Xavier High School).
  4.  Turn north (right) onto Preserve Lane and go 0.25-mile to the preserve on the west side of the high school athletic field.
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Plants

Vegetation in the preserve consists of upland dry sand prairie and a wooded area with upland, lowland, and wet habitats. 

A total of over 130 plants have been found in the preserve in various habitats. 

Prairie

The prairie hosts a beautiful array of flowering forbs throughout the year starting with fringed puccoon in the spring. 

Hog peanut and lousewort can also be seen in the spring, followed later  in the summer by: 

  • Indian paintbrush
  • Sand milkweed
  • Butterfly weed
  • Pale purple coneflower
  • Gray-headed coneflower
  • Black-eyed Susan
  • Showy tick-trefoil
  • New Jersey tea
  • Common mountain mint

Fall flowers include gerardia, rough blazing star, grassleaf goldenrod, and white sage. 

Woodland

Portions of the floodplain in the woodland were once used as a source of fill by the railroad, creating a series of pools. Today, this habitat supports several uncommon wetland plant species and Sphagnum moss. 

The lowland forest is dominated by: 

  • River birch
  • Dark green bulrush
  • American manna grass
  • Rice cut-grass
  • Cattail
  • Michigan lily
  • Duck potato
  • Soft rush
  • Woolly bulrush
  • Water plantain
  • Sensitive fern
  • Swamp horsetail  
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Animals & Species

Among the sixty species of butterflies noted at the preserve are: 

  • Byssus skipper
  • Checkered white
  • Gorgone checkerspot
  • Northern broken dash
  • Painted lady
  • Wild indigo duskywing
  • Acadian hairstreak
  • Fiery skipper

The sandy prairie is also home for the hognose snake.

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Visitor Information

Other natural areas in the vicinity include Palisades-Dows, Behrens Ponds and Woodland, and Hanging Bog State Preserves, and PalisadesKepler State Park.

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