Kettlehole State Preserve

[Abby Brown] Sometimes you just can't see Iowa's geological wonders from the road or even the parking lot. You might have to put on your tennies and go for a hike to discover some of Iowa's best kept scientific secrets.

(Map marking Dickinson County in northwestern Iowa.)

This is Freda Haffner Kettle Hole State Preserve in Milford, Iowa. Just past this white mailbox, where visitors can sign the guestbook, lies a winding trail leading to an interesting geological formation created by glaciers a very long time ago. This short five minute hike is easy and fun. At the end of the trail is a stunning view of Iowa's largest kettle hole. This large dip in the land was formed when giant chunks of ice fell off of glaciers and slowly melted, making big bowl shaped indentations in the ground. The bottom of the bowl is a wetland and can fill with water sometimes, just like a cereal bowl. On the slopes and ridges around the kettle hole, are hundreds of different species of prairie plants. It's definitely a unique habitat. It was windy on our visit to the state preserve. But that actually played into what the scene might have been like thousands and thousands of years ago when glaciers moved through, leaving a huge block of ice that formed this kettle hole.

Every county in Iowa has a scientific factor that influences the landscape. In Dickinson County, the evidence is in the kettle hole.

Funding for FIND Iowa has been provided by The Coons Foundation, Pella and the Gilchrist Foundation.