White Pine Hollow State Preserve

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State Preserves

White Pine Hollow is a 712-acre preserve featuring a rugged landscape with groves of white pine trees. Formerly known as “Pine Creek Hollow” and “Pine Hollow,” it is two miles northwest of Luxemburg in northwest Dubuque County. 

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About the Land

History

Interest began in the early 1920s for Pine Creek Hollow to become an “unimproved” state park. In 1932, the Dubuque High School Nature Club began construction of a cabin to serve as a nature school headquarters, and it was dedicated to Ross Harris, founder of the Pine Hollow movement. 

The Dubuque County Conservation Society contributed funds toward the purchase of the area, leading to the acquisition of the first 80 acres in 1934 by the Iowa Conservation Commission as a state forest. The area was dedicated as a biological and geological state preserve in 1968 and as a National Natural Landmark in 1972. 

Geography

Located along the western edge of the Paleozoic Plateau landform region, the deeply dissected, bedrock-dominated topography of this preserve lies on the prominent Silurian Escarpment. This line of steep rock bluffs marks the eroded edge of hard, resistant Silurian-age dolomite. 

Terrain is typical of the Silurian Escarpment, featuring: 

  • Numerous large rock outcrops
  • Slump blocks
  • Cliffs
  • Sinkholes
  • Caves
  • Algific talus slopes
  • Springs
  • Steep-walled valleys

The deep valley of Pine Hollow Creek and three extensive branches cut through the preserve. 

The “hogsback,” a nearly isolated narrow upland ridge formed by the meandering creek, can be found in the southeastern portion of the preserve. A “rock city” of separated massive slump blocks occurs just north of the hogsback. 

Precipitous bluffs occur throughout the preserve. The preserve’s highest point, at 1,140 feet, is about 320 feet above its lowest elevation. 

A wide diversity of habitats in the preserve—including bluffs, upland forests, bottomland forests, pine groves, and algific talus slopes—supports a large variety of plant and animal life. 

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Directions

  1. From the intersection of Highway 20 and Highway 136 at Dyersville, drive north (through Dyersville and New Vienna) on Highway 136 for 8 miles to Luxemburg. 
  2. From the intersection of Highway 136 with Highway 52 and Highway 3 in Luxemburg, there are two approaches to the preserve: 
    1. To east entrance: Take Highway 52 north (straight) for 1.5 miles to Lake Road. Turn west (left) and go 0.75 mile to an intersection with Heim Road. Veer northwest (right) onto Heim Road and continue on this curving road 0.5 mile to a parking lot by the preserve entrance on the west (left) side of the road (sign: White Pine Hollow Preserve). 
    2. To south entrance: Take Highway 3 west (left) for 2 miles to White Pine Hollow Road. Turn north (right) and go 1.25 miles to the end of the road (sign: White Pine Hollow Preserve).
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Plants

Over 500 species of vascular plants and over 100 species of bryophytes have been reported in the preserve. 

White oak and red oak predominate in the forests on dry, rolling uplands. Sugar maple and basswood prevail on steep, mesic slopes. Along with willows in the wetter areas, the floodplain valleys are composed of: 

  • Box elder
  • Silver maple
  • Cottonwood
  • Green ash
  • Hackberry
  • Black cherry 

Cliff faces host: 

  • Smooth cliff-brake fern
  • Rock sandwort
  • Cliff goldenrod
  • Bulblet bladder fern
  • Walking fern
  • Slender rockbrake fern

Some plants are limited to algific talus slopes, continuously bathed with cold moist air seeping from bedrock fissures. Found on these algific slopes are:

  • The rare Iowa Pleistocene
  • Midwest Pleistocene
  • Bluff vertigo
  • Iowa Pleistocene vertigo
  • Frigid ambersnail snails

Beginning as early as March, hepatica, bloodroot, and Dutchman’s breeches can be seen in abundance on many of the slopes, followed by:

  • Spring beauty
  • Squirrel corn
  • Bishop’s cap
  • Bellwort
  • White trout-lily
  • Swamp buttercup

By May and June, Virginia waterleaf and wild lily-of-thevalley can be seen blooming in the uplands. By summer, virgin’s bower and hairy wood mint are blooming among the many fern species found here. 

Fall flowering species include:

  • Purple joe-pye-weed
  • Fall coralroot orchid
  • Indian pipe
  • Arrow-leaved aster
  • Zigzag and elm-leaved goldenrods 
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Birds & Species

About ninety species of birds summer here, and six species of bats have been found in the preserve. 

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Visitor Information

Hunting is permitted. 

Other natural areas along the Silurian Escarpment include Brush Creek Canyon, Bixby, and Mossy Glen State Preserves, Backbone and Echo Valley State Parks, and Ram Hollow and Hoffman Wildlife Areas.

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