Head for The Hills!
As much as Margaret and I love our home in the Driftless Area of Clayton County, we also relish the annual trip across the state to the Loess Hills Prairie Seminar, near Onawa. That’s where we’re headed June 2-4. It’s a fun family event.
https://www.loesshillsprairieseminar.com/
Iowa’s Loess Hills, just east of the Missouri River, are literally drifts of soil, “loess,” that were piled there 30,000 years ago, when glaciers lay just to the north. Summers brought torrents of glacial meltwater carrying fine sediments. But when winter ended the melting, fierce winds blew across the now-dry river bed, picking up the silt and dumping it on the far side of the valley like snow behind a fence. Some of those drifts pile a few hundred feet high, and support unusual plant and animal communities.
The annual Prairie Seminar (this is the 46th!) is an ideal venue for learning more about this unique ecosystem, with programs and field trips on botany, prairie ecology, geology, insects, history, crafts, birding, reptiles and amphibians, mammals, and more. A night prescribed prairie burn is tentatively planned for Friday evening.
Outdoor programs begin at the Loess Hills Wildlife Area, while indoor sessions are at the Onawa Community Center. There are activities for children and adults. Teachers may register for continuing education credits.
Primitive camping is allowed at the Loess Hills Wildlife Area. Lunch and dinner meals can be ordered until May 26.
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wish i could attend!