INTERPRETIVE NATURAL HISTORY OF PALISADES-KEPLER STATE PARK

Palisades-Kepler State Park was established in 1922 outside of Mt. Vernon, Iowa, approximately 12 miles east of Cedar Rapids on the Cedar River. The park attracts thousands of visitors each year because of its natural history, which includes a variety of geological features, diverse plant and animal populations, and archeological artifacts. The first important stage in the development of the park occurred in the 1930s, when employees of Civilian Conservation Corps were assigned to implement with forest conservation, fire control, and road maintenance.

One of the park's more notable early "visitors" was James Sherman Minott, who resided in a small cave south of the Cedar River during the early 1860s. Minott hunted and trapped on land that is now contained within the park's boundaries. Excavations in the cave by naturalists at Cornell College recovered 350 items left there by Minott, and >11,000 items left by Algonquin Indians.

Bedrock in the park is mostly limestone and dolomite of Silurian age (~ 420-440 Ma). These strata contain abundant crinoids and brachiopods, and somewhat less abundant trilobites.

Extant plant species in the park include cedar trees, black maples, white oaks, red oaks, mosses, liverworts, New England asters, and daisy fleabanes. The dominantly hardwood forest provided habitat for white tailed deer, raccoons, turkey vultures, and occasional bald eagles.