Brush Creek Canyon is one of 95 preserves that protect natural, geological, archeological or historical sites in Iowa. They are often minimally maintained, which only adds to their charm.
A 217-acre preserve located in Fayette County, near the town of Arlington, Brush Creek Canyon State Preserve is announced by a modest sign on a telephone pole beside the blacktop. My friend and I could’ve easily missed it. We turned onto a gravel road and followed it for a mile to the preserve’s entrance, and then drove another 200 feet on a rutted, washed-out road that ended at the bottom of a gully near Brush Creek.
There were no signs to guide us, but we found a trail that led up out of the gully and onto a small stretch of prairie in the center of the preserve. On the other side of that prairie, we came upon a spectacular forest gorge presided over by 150-foot-tall dolomite limestone bluffs, all sculpted over generations of natural stream erosion. It felt like another world.
In many places, large blocks of dolomite had separated from the cliffs and slumped onto the soft shale underneath, often rotating and leaning as they shifted position. This rugged topography provides a variety of habitats, ranging from shaded, humid, cool slopes to sunny, warm, dry ones. Red and white oak, sugar maple, basswood, blue beech and ironwood are dominant tree species on the slopes. Bird life is abundant. Numerous plant species, including at least seven ferns, thrive in the preserve. When we visited on a sunny mid-November day, mats of moss covering the boulders sparkled like jewels.
Brush Creek Canyon is located along the Silurian Escarpment, the western edge of the Paleozoic Plateau — also known as the Driftless Region — of northeastern Iowa, southwestern Wisconsin, and southeastern Minnesota. As we left this magical place and continued south, we were greeted by familiar Iowa farmland.
This article was originally published in Little Village’s December 2023 issue as a part of Peak Iowa, a collection of fascinating state stories, sites and people.
