LIME CREEK NATURE CENTER – Mason City, Iowa
Description – This nature center includes 400 acres of walking trails, restored prairie, wetlands, forests, and a building that includes mounted mammal and bird displays, bird feeding stations, and hands-on projects. Visitors are able to look at native plants, reptiles, mammals, fish, and insects in their natural habitats as they hike and cross country ski. Some of the trails are handicapped accessible.
Wildlife diversity and the occasional remnants of nineteenth-century life are highlights you’ll encounter here. Here are about seven miles of trails in or adjacent to the nature center area that form a network of several loops and side trails suitable for an hour or so of pleasant riding in a quiet wooded setting and around the perimeter of a small prairie ar3ea. The terrain is mostly easy, but the mixed trail surface of grass, clay, rocks, and a few short hills add some challenge to the riding.
Admission – None
Directions – 1 mile north of U. S. Highway 65
Address: 3501 Lime Creek Road Mason City, IA 50401
Hours – 7:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., Monday – Friday; 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Saturday; noon — 5:00 p.m., Sunday (closes at 4:00 p.m. during winter), closed holidays
Credit Cards – None
Phone – (515) 423-5309
Is there a LIME Creek? Does it run through this park?
I spoke with Fred at the Conservation Office who told me that at one time this particular area of the Winnebago River was called Lime Creek. He said it was a historical name that the area decided to use in the naming of the conservation area. Thank you for asking.