Hitchcock Nature Center

I’ve been into hikes lately. Up until now, I’ve been going to the numerous city lakes around Omaha. These are mostly flat, with not much incline, if any, at all. Their challenge is more in their length over anything to do with terrain.

That changed yesterday, when I crossed the border into Iowa, traveling just north of the town of Crescent, to the Hitchcock Nature Center. Hitchcock is part of the Loess Hills, a string of steel hills and ridges just east of the Missouri River in Iowa. These hills were left behind by winds and glaciers from the last ice age and are the second largest such landforms, surpassed only by similar landforms in Shaanxi, China. Some spots of these hills are 200–300 feet deep.

The results are some beautiful vistas over the Iowa and Nebraska landscape. One vantage point gave me a nice view of the Omaha skyline about 10 miles away. I can only imagine what this space looks like during autumn when the leaves change color.

I discovered how out of shape I am yesterday. Taking off from the lodge at the park here, the trail I took rides along one of the ridges here. That’s to say there was very little incline or decline, so a low level of difficulty here. Then I decided to descend, which means I eventually have to ascend back up. I set a personal record of a 318-foot elevation gain. I would estimate some of the inclines were around 30–40º in slope. This shot my heart rate up to around 155 bpm, a level I haven’t hit since tackling hills in Seattle some years ago.

Despite that challenge, it’s worth taking in the scenery here. I did roughly a two-mile loop around, and I simply loved taking in everything around me. I saw birds here that I don’t usually see in the city, and most of the area is shaded enough to keep you from getting too hot in the sun. That said, where the trees open up, you can warm up fast. Definitely pack a water bottle.

Admission here is $5, so keep that in mind if you visit. For more information on the Hitchcock Nature Center, check out their website through Pottawattamie Conservation Foundation.