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.
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