Patrick Swanson has been restoring a Harrison County prairie.
About six months have passed since I wrote about my experience on a fall LoHi Trek through the southern Loess Hills. This spring, LoHi Trek number 5 was held April 23-28 in the middle reaches of the Loess Hills, centered in and around Hitchcock Nature Center (HNC) in Pottawattamie County. This was my fourth LoHi Trek, and was distinctive from my previous journeys for its inclusion of an urban hike through the neighborhoods and urban core of Council Bluffs.
Like earlier LoHi adventures, Golden Hills Resource Conservation and Development spearheaded the planning and logistics of the trip, and posted an excellent summary of each day’s activities, highlighting the many partners and volunteers that made this event possible.
Crescent Hill at Hitchcock served as our home base, where we set up camp near the Crescent Ridge Cabin. This area was formerly operated as Mt. Crescent Ski Area; Pottawattamie County acquired it in 2021 to expand Hitchcock Nature Center to the south and develop additional recreational opportunities beyond the snow-based activities for which Mt. Crescent was well-known.
Chad Graeve, Operations Supervisor of Pottawattamie County Conservation, spoke to us the first evening about the origins of Hitchcock Nature Center and the long-range vision for the park. He then led a sunset hike to “the edge of the world”—a scenic overlook near the top of Crescent Hill with spectacular views of Omaha and the surrounding area. Especially memorable was the Whip-poor-will that serenaded us on our way back to the cabin. Readers of my LoHi trek essays may recall me describing my first experience being introduced to their songs during my first trek.
The next morning, we embarked on our first hike—an eight mile loop starting at Crescent Hill. From the Crescent Ridge trail, we worked our way northward along the western front of the Loess Hills landform at HNC, taking in the scenic vistas of the Missouri River.
Much of the area had been burned the previous fall, and spring wildflowers, such as fringed puccoon and hoary puccoon, false toadflax, and Dutchman’s breeches, were beginning their colorful displays.
fringed puccoon
hoary puccoon
false toadflax
Dutchman’s breeches
From there, we descended into a deep central valley, where I spotted some woodland phlox and violet wood sorrel in bloom. Then we climbed eastward, following the ridgeline to our lunch destination at the recently constructed Heartwood Pavilion near the entrance to HNC.
woodland phlox (also known as Sweet William)
violet wood sorrel
Our post-lunch hike led us along Badger Ridge, around Lotus Pond, and eventually back to Crescent Hill, passing by areas with skeletal remains of cedars that had been cut and burned in the recent past as part of active management to restore the remnant prairie there.
Thursday afternoon’s activities were interrupted by severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings, torrential rain, and flash flooding. Fortunately, we were able to shelter in the ski lodge at Crescent Hill, and after the all-clear was sounded, we were able to continue the evening’s activities—a wonderful dinner and an interesting presentation by local bird expert and Nature Conservancy Development Officer, Nic Salick.
I confess my mind wandered a bit during Nic’s talk. We had had some light precipitation the night before, and the rain fly on my lightly used, but older tent was not giving me the protection I had expected. I wondered how well it handled the recent deluge. As the light faded and I was able to return to my tent, my fears of a very soggy situation were confirmed.
Given the late hour, and the possible threat of additional rain, I decided to bunk in the basement of the ski lodge, pulling together a couple large wooden benches for my cot, and leave my inundated tent until morning. As luck would have it, my sleeping bag, pad, and pillow had mostly escaped the puddles, but the clothes in my pack did not fare as well. I was most grateful for a dry, safe, and warm spot to spend the night.
The morning of day two started with an optional bird watching tour by Nic Salick, but the pressing need to dry my tent and my clothes prevented me from attending. Thankfully the cabin was equipped with a clothes dryer, and I was able to tip over my tent to drain the water, allowing it to dry out during the day.
For the most part this returned me to normalcy. Although the original plan was to convoy after breakfast to our day’s hiking destination, the Old Town Conservation Area near the town of Missouri Valley, we collectively decided to postpone our hike until after lunch to allow the trails to dry out a bit. This provided an unexpected opportunity for extended conversations with my fellow trekkers over coffee and lunch, and a chance to pen some words to community thank-you-notes for our presenters.
Day three broke clear and cool, perfect conditions to embark on our hike through Council Bluffs. Our trek began at Vincent Bluff State Preserve, where noted prairie enthusiast and protector Glenn Pollock gave us a history of the origin and management of this preserve. From atop the ridgeline, the views of downtown Omaha the rail yards in Council Bluffs were fantastic.
We wandered downhill and uphill, walking through neighborhoods and Fairmount Park, where a few residents (curious about our band of travelers) greeted and chatted with us. It was a lovely form of spontaneous community outreach to discuss the beauty and importance of the Loess Hills.
Along the way, a small group of us stopped to visit the impressive General Grenville Dodge House, named after the Civil War hero and railroad entrepreneur who made his home in what was then the gateway to the west. We then meandered along Bluff Street admiring the architectures of the ages, before finally dropping onto Broadway Avenue, where we stopped in at Barley’s for lunch. (I recommend their Reuben!)
After a generous break, we returned to the road, hiking up 2nd Street to see the Black Angel Statue erected to honor Ruth Ann Dodge (wife of Grenville Dodge) after her death in 1916.
From there we walked along Lafayette Street past the Fairview Cemetery to visit the memorial commemorating Abraham Lincoln’s visit to Council Bluffs in 1859, during which he met with General Dodge and selected Council Bluffs as the eastern terminus of America’s first transcontinental railroad.
As we awaited our rides back to HNC, we were greeted by a very friendly Malamute mix, with his human companion and another friend who had stopped by in their souped-up Camaros. This was just one of the unexpected highlights of the trek for me.
The last evening’s events took place at HNC’s Loess Hills Lodge. Dinner was preceded by a crafting activity led by artist Anna Stoysich in which we were given materials and instruction to carve stamps for printing personalized bandannas. I thought I would commemorate the local and seasonal flora by carving my impression of a woodland phlox. I had never done something like that before, so having the opportunity to learn the technique was a lot of fun, and sharing the stamps that we created was a nice way to appreciate each other’s work.
Dinner was followed by a now-traditional group gathering to share reflections of our experience on this LoHi trek. I noted that having my brother join me on this trip made this trek particularly special. I also read a poem I had written, partly to acknowledge April as National Poetry Month (thanks to LoHi organizer and poet Kelly Madigan for raising my awareness), and partly because I have been thinking lately about how well we take the time recognize and receive gifts that are offered by others (human and other-than-human). I especially wanted to highlight some we encountered on this trek, and reflect on whether or not we have been present enough to sense them for the gifts they are.
Prese(nts)nce
As I live my life
And offer my gifts
Do you see them
As the presents they are?
Or do you pass by
Busily occupied
Lacking awareness
Of my presence
Perhaps you once acknowledged
My existence
Peripherally perceiving
the gift I offered
But the gift went overlooked,
Unvalued, unwarranted
Of the small effort
Of your presence
Can I reach you
When the eyes are blind,
The heart is tight and
The mind is cluttered?
Perhaps recentering
Is needed to open your eyes
Feel your heart and
Free your mind
To truly sense the gifts
Given freely, presented
As the bloom of a flower
The song of a bird
The curiosity of a child
The fellowship of a shared meal
Or the help of a stranger
And graciously receive
These presents with
the gift of your
Presence
I have now participated in four LoHi treks, two in late spring (2021 and 2023), and one last year during the fall. The earlier start of this year’s trek avoided some of the heat we encountered during the late spring hikes (especially in 2021), and also afforded opportunities to see wildflowers that bloom early in the growing season.
The hike through downtown Council Bluffs and the surrounding neighborhoods was also a novel addition to this trek. In a sense, this saunter was a tour of the area’s natural and human history. One could easily see the barrier that the Missouri River posed from strolling along the ridgetops above the city, and see the wealth generated by those who found a way to launch others across it to the lands beyond.
The hikes at HNC in particular provided excellent examples of varied and diverse landscapes of the Loess Hills, including native and reconstructed prairies, oak savannas, valley bottoms, and wetlands. Hiking earlier in the growing season meant that many of the areas subjected to prescribed burning last fall and this spring had yet to “green up,” but also allowed the emerging spring wildflowers to be easily seen against the blackened backdrop.
I have been visiting HNC regularly since I moved to Omaha 25 years ago. As a result, I am acquainted with its trails, its history and growth, and also the challenges and opportunities it faces from being close to urban areas.
For those not aware of the HNC’s history, it began with the purchase of a former YMCA camp that was started in the 1970s. The story is a bit more sordid than that though, because the original buyer of the YMCA camp initially led folks to believe he was exploring the possibility of using the property for environmental education, or to perhaps start a brewery.
Instead, he surreptitiously planned to turn the site into a landfill to accept waste from the east coast, even intending to build a railroad spur into the site. In preparation, he started bulldozing the valley bottoms. Locals started noticing large amounts of sediment washing off the site. The highly erodible nature of Loess soil served as a first alert to his plans, which led to an organized opposition to block the zoning change necessary to operate the dump. His proposal failed by a one vote margin.
After that plan failed to proceed, the property went into foreclosure. The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation eventually bought it and transferred the land to the Pottawattamie County Conservation Board to be operated as a park. It has steadily grown since then, reaching its present size of more than 1,500 acres, and hosting about 13 miles of trails.
HNC is a wonderful example of how ecological restoration can improve wildlife habitat, while also offering low-impact recreational opportunities to benefit people. An historical aerial photograph from the 1990s, obtained from the Iowa Geographic Map Server, shows the low point of its history. The bulldozed areas prepared for dump operations appear as obvious scars on the landscape north and west of the Loess Hills lodge.
In the same photograph, many of the Loess Hills ridges, like those along the Badger Ridge trail, show encroachment by eastern red cedars and other trees. Most of the surrounding areas were conventionally farmed or grazed. Since that time, cedars have been removed from the remnant prairies, the bulldozed and cultivated areas have been reconstructed with native plantings, and a regimen of prescribed burning has been implemented. These changes can be seen from the most recent 2023 area photograph to have softened the starkness of the bare soil and agricultural use seen in the 1990’s image.
Through these collective efforts, the soil erosion and agricultural runoff have been greatly reduced, the land is slowly being healed, and life is returning to greater abundance and diversity. The following photograph and video, taken in June 2024 on former cropland recently sown back to prairie, help illustrate these changes. Besides the impressive plant diversity in the prairie reconstructions, notable for me are the dickcissels that have come back to occupy the restored grassland habitat, which you can hear among other birdsong as a trio of sharp, slightly descending notes.
What is needed to fully rehabilitate this landscape is the presence of large native grazers like elk and bison, which, through their grazing and wallowing activity, create habitats for species benefiting from these disturbances. Introducing those species is part of Hitchcock’s long-range plan; for the near term, domestic cattle and goats are partially filling those roles through managed browsing.
Why does this all matter? Well, to the creatures that are having an increasingly hard time finding habitat to live in, this area functions as a real refuge for them. Moreover, by connecting the Crescent Hill complex to the Loess Hills within HNC, the park effectively extends a north-south corridor of natural lands that serves to help migrating wildlife refuel and safely navigate to their final destinations.
With more than 97 percent of Iowa’s original landscape converted to other human uses, the rivers and hills along the state’s eastern and western borders afford the most remaining natural areas to allow safe passage for migratory species.
Besides the benefits to wildlife, parks like HNC provide important places where people can go to learn and experience what a managed, natural area can look like and feel like. In a society more disconnected from nature than ever before, HNC offers of chance to people to reconnect with it.
Scientific studies increasingly recognize and validate how contact with nature can improve human physical, mental, and spiritual health. Indeed, the idea that exposure to nature can be a form of medicine, which could be prescribed by care givers to improve health outcomes, is gaining traction in the health professions.
“Nature Prescription” as it is called is still developing as a form of therapy. It deserves a place to be considered in medical education and clinical practice to complement conventional options for treating common non-communicable diseases. Time in nature can be healing.
Toward that end, more medical institutions are including teaching and learning activities that focus on nature-based medicine. As part of a five week elective course I teach to medical students on this topic, I use the Badger Ridge trail at HNC for a capstone hike to help illustrate the intersections between engaged nature experiences and human health and well-being, and how ecological restoration can foster those relationships.
Being close to the Omaha and Council Bluffs metropolitan areas means that HNC can provide healthful outdoor experiences to many people. The challenge is that it can suffer from overuse. I witnessed this firsthand during the COVID-19 pandemic, when hiking offered one of the few activities that could be enjoyed due to social distancing constraints. The trails became severely eroded, and some had to be rerouted to reduce the impact.
Human-related noise in another impact of HNC’s proximity to two urban areas. Overflights of planes coming into and out of Eppley airport, freight train traffic, and barking dogs were especially noticeable during the nighttime hours at the campsite. Natural sounds from coyotes and owls added the cacophony! As a light sleeper, I was happy I brought ear plugs.
Still, nature is adaptable and resilient if given space and time to recover, and places like HNC give humans and other-than-humans alike a place to do that. By now, I hope readers of my LoHi reflection essays begin to recognize the special people and places that make the Iowa LoHi trek an event worth returning to every year. Perhaps I will share the trail with you next time!