Massive Iowa wildlife area offers year-round escape just off Interstate 35

DECATUR COUNTY — An easily accessible 2,300-acre wildlife area about an hour south of Des Moines offers year-round opportunities for hunting, hiking, birdwatching, fishing, mushroom hunting and exploring restored prairie.

Dekalb Wildlife Area sits just off Interstate 35 and can be reached through several county gravel roads. Its size, varied habitat and convenient location have made it a popular destination for Iowa residents and visiting hunters.

The gravel roads also provide quiet walking routes for visitors hoping to escape crowds and explore the property’s timber, prairie, grasslands, creek bottoms and ponds.

Hiking opportunities are expected to expand this fall when Iowa Department of Natural Resources employees begin installing firebreaks through timber on the eastern side of the property.

The firebreaks will prepare the area for prescribed burning next spring while creating additional routes through the woods.

Prescribed fire is an important management tool that mimics natural fires and helps native prairie return by controlling invasive plants, removing accumulated vegetation and allowing sunlight to reach the ground.

A developing prairie located west of a small parking area near the center of Dekalb shows what can happen after unwanted trees are removed and fire is returned to the landscape.

“A year ago, this was almost overtaken by cedars,” said Josh Rusk, a wildlife biologist with the DNR’s Grand River Wildlife Unit. “We cut them last summer and after it was burned, this prairie returned.”

Wildlife has quickly taken advantage of the recovering habitat. During a recent visit, a deer bounded from the tall grass and startled two hen turkeys and several nearly pheasant-sized poults near the tree line.

An old rock-quarry pond sits off one of the gravel access lanes and provides another recreation opportunity. A nearby hillside has been cleared of cedar trees as managers work to restore native grasses.

Rusk said the DNR intends to continue expanding that restoration project.

Dekalb is part of the Sand Creek Bird Conservation Area, which was dedicated in 2010 because of its combination of woodland and grassland habitat.

The conservation area supports approximately half of Iowa’s nesting bird species. Its management relies on removing invasive vegetation, thinning selected trees, preserving oak savanna and returning prairie to appropriate portions of the landscape.

NorthIowaToday.com previously explored the neighboring Sand Creek Wildlife Area and its importance to hunters, birders and numerous wildlife species. Together, Sand Creek, Dekalb and surrounding lands form a large conservation area spanning portions of Decatur, Ringgold and Union counties.

Habitat work at Dekalb includes controlling honeysuckle, autumn olive and multiflora rose. DNR staff are also following a forest-management plan intended to preserve oak savanna and improve the balance between woodland and open grassland.

A recently added tract on Dekalb’s northwestern side provides scenic views across the bottomland and expands the wildlife area’s grassland habitat.

The property was previously used for hay. DNR staff plan to conduct a prescribed burn there in spring 2027 to suppress exotic plants and encourage additional native grasses and wildflowers.

“We’re seeing a good response from blazing star, the milkweeds and the native warm-season grasses,” Rusk said.

Prescribed burning is also being used elsewhere in Iowa to restore rare habitat. At the Callahan Tract in Northern Iowa’s Little Sioux Wildlife Area, conservation crews have combined fire with tree and brush removal to help remnant prairie recover.

Dekalb remains a popular destination for deer and turkey hunters, although deer numbers in the area have been affected by outbreaks of hemorrhagic disease during recent years. Nearby Sand Creek has experienced similar losses.

Despite the decline, Dekalb continues to attract resident and nonresident hunters. After deer season, visitors regularly search the property for shed antlers.

Spring brings mushroom hunters into the timber, while birdwatchers arrive during annual migrations. Other visitors come throughout the year simply to walk the gravel roads, explore the woods or watch wildlife.

With convenient interstate access, more than 2,300 acres and a changing mixture of prairie, timber and grassland, Dekalb provides an outdoor destination during every season.

(TOP PHOTO: A new, developing prairie is a short walk west of the small parking area near a turnaround on Dekalb Wildllife Area. Photo courtesy of the Iowa DNR.)