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Hoffman Prairie

Hoffman Prairie is a dotted with wildflowers in the spring and is a great example of a wet, tallgrass prairie.

Why You Should Visit
Hoffman Prairie features an outstanding complex of morainal knob and basin prairie and cattail marsh.

Location
Cerro Gordo County, two miles west of the city of Clear Lake

Directions
From the intersection of I-35 and Highway 18 in Clear Lake:

  • Take Highway 18 west 4.8 miles to the preserve on the north side of the road (sign: Hoffman Prairie).
  • Park on the shoulder of Balsam Avenue (the road on the west side of the preserve).

Size
37 acres

Conditions
This preserve is a wet-mesic prairie with shallow marshes. It is characterized by tallgrass and sedge species, with cattails and rushes in marsh areas.

Preserve Visitation Guidelines

What to See: Plants
The varieties of habitat, ranging from cattail-dominated wetlands to mesic prairie, support over 150 plant species, including such rare plants as grass-of-parnassus, tall cotton grass and blazing star.

What to See: Animals
Birds at Hoffman Prairie include the red-winged blackbird, blue-winged teal, mallard, sedge wren, bobolink and yellowthroat. The preserve is also home to several rare butterfly species, including the black dash, dion and broad-winged skippers in the wetland habitats, and the Poweshiek skipperling and Arogos skipper in the prairie habitats.

Why the Conservancy Selected This Site
Hoffman Prairie was purchased by the Conservancy from Larry Hoffman in 1985, and was dedicated as a biological and geological State Preserve in 1986.

What the Conservancy Has Done/Is Doing
The northern portion of this site had been plowed and is being replanted to prairie using seed harvested from this and other prairies in the area.