NPS Photo

The tallgrass prairie provides a rural setting and wide-open views.

Eastern deciduous forest and northern tallgrass prairie met in a mosaic of ecosystems in eastern Iowa. The result was a rich diversity of plants and animals. This land combined savanna, prairie, and forest in a pattern of interlaced fingers. The forest followed the floodplains, while prairie remained on the high land and savanna occurred between. Savanna often occurred in the old sand deposits left by rivers that wandered over the land, but have moved elsewhere now.

Ninety-eight percent of Iowa's prairie is gone and nearly all its savanna has been developed for other purposes. Forests, though once cut for lumber and farm land, have grown back along many streams. Herbert Hoover National Historic Site has 81 acres of reconstructed tallgrass prairie and 50 acres of parkland with large trees and grass beneath.