Savage Woods State Preserve

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State Preserves

David Savage Memorial Woods is a 12-acre preserve featuring a small upland forest. It is located ten miles southwest of Mount Pleasant in western Henry County. 

The woodland had been owned by the Savage family since 1904. In 1966, it was given to the Iowa chapter of The Nature Conservancy by Alice Savage in memory of David Savage, a botanist. It was dedicated as a biological state preserve in 1980.

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About the Land

Located in the Southern Iowa Drift Plain landform region, this preserve is part of a landscape of rolling hills with branching rivers and streams. 

Topography within the preserve includes an upland ridge intermittent streambed. 

This upland forest is dominated by:

  • White oak
  • Red oak
  • Shagbark hickory

Present in the understory are:

  • Ironwood
  • Black cherry
  • Red elm  

Sugar maple is prominent in the overstory on lower slopes and along the streambed. 

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Directions

  1. From the intersection of Highway 34 and Highway 218 in Mount Pleasant, take Highway 34 west 3.5 miles to County Road W55. 
  2. Turn south (left) and go 4 miles to 275th Street. Turn west (right) and follow 275th Street on a winding route for 4.5 miles. 
  3. At the inter­section of 275th Street with 286th Avenue, continue south (straight) on 286th Avenue. 
  4. Follow this curving dead-end road about 0.5 mile to the Mills farmstead and park across the road from the front of a stone house. 
  5. From the stone house, walk north along the east side of the fenceline between the house and the barn, then continue northeasterly for 0.25 mile to the southeast corner of the preserve (sign: Savage Memorial Woods).
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Plants

Over 100 species of plants have been found in this preserve. 

As early as March, spring beauty, hepatica, and bloodroot can be found on the forest floor, followed by:

  • Dutchman’s breeches
  • Jack-in-the-pulpit
  • Wild geranium
  • Mayapple
  • Blue phlox
  • Solomon’s seal
  • Kidneyleaf buttercup 

Spring is also a good time to see the flowering of redbud trees. 

By May, blooms include:

  • Anise root
  • Carrion flower
  • False Solomon’s seal
  • Virginia waterleaf
  • Wood sorrel

They can be seen among the fronds of blunt-lobed woodsia, ebony spleenwort, and rattlesnake ferns. 

White avens, slender mountain mint, great blue lobelia, spotted jewelweed, and lopseed begin blooming in early summer. 

In the fall, American bellflower, blue wood aster, and elm-leaved goldenrod can be found in the woodland. 

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Birds & Species

Many of the common woodland birds may be found here, including: 

  • Yellow-billed and black-billed cuckoos
  • Red-headed, hairy, and downy woodpeckers
  • Great crested flycatcher
  • Eastern wood pewee
  • Rose-breasted grosbeak
  • Red-eyed, warbling, and soli­tary vireos 
  • Black-and-white and yellow-throated warblers
  • White-breasted nut­hatch
  • Tufted titmouse 
  • Blackcapped chickadee
  • Wood thrush
  • Veery 
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Visitor Information

Hunting is not permitted. 

Other state preserves in the vicinity include Woodthrush Woods, Lamson Woods, and Starr’s Cave.

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