Věčný Prairie & Trails
Protecting
Natural
Landscapes
for Eternity
Land Acquisition
Věčný Woods began when the Nature Center acquired 29 acres in 2008 with the aim of permanently protecting the woods. More than 100 donors were involved from the beginning of this journey. Keep scrolling to find a full donor list.
When the opportunity to acquire 26 acres of adjacent land became available in 2019, another 130 donors stepped up to support the purchase. The small group of owners had planned the land for a housing development but fell in love with the natural beauty of the place and decided to entrust it to Indian Creek Nature Center, knowing that it would be protected.
After the derecho in August 2020, staff and volunteers began to clear downed trees. While working on the land, the Nature Center began to formulate a plan for adding trails and a restored prairie to the property. Active restoration of the property began in 2021. Since then, much work has been done to make the property ready for visitors.
Prairie Restoration
The Věčný Prairie Project turned a two-and-a-half-acre former farm field that had been overtaken by invasive trees and shrubs into a tallgrass prairie featuring more than 181 native species.
Donors, volunteers and staff came together to restore the land by removing honeysuckle, autumn olive shrubs, mulberry trees and cork amur trees. Hundreds of hours of volunteer work prepared the prairie for seeding by early fall 2022. Staff rented a seed driller to plant the restored prairie, which takes about three to five years to fully mature.
In September 2022 the new tallgrass prairie was dedicated as the David Novak Prairie in honor of local restorationist David Novak. The prairie includes the quarter-mile Prairie Clover Path, built to accessibility standards around the perimeter of the prairie. While the prairie plants spend the first few years developing their massive root system that will stabilize the soil, visitors will get a unique chance to hike around a budding prairie early in its life.
Building Trails
Věčný Woods is now open and available to hikers. Altogether, the trail system at Věčný Woods provides an additional 1.7 miles of trails that weave through secluded hills thanks to the efforts of staff and multiple volunteer groups, who built the trail throughout 2023. Staff received assistance completing trail work, including chainsawing, brush cutting and debris hauling, from the Conservation Corps Minnesota & Iowa, Troop 9 Eagle Scout Brogan Ironside, the Wednesday Warriors (a dedicated group of weekly land volunteers) and other groups.
The new trails are not merely additional trails in our system. They offer different experiences. The Dry Creek Trail (1.25 miles) follows rolling hills through towering trees, with some inclines more challenging than on any other Nature Center trails. The Prairie Clover Path (.25 miles) that loops around the budding prairie offers a rare opportunity to see a prairie in the stages before it becomes like the mature prairie the Nature Center restored years ago. This path is built to accessibility standards, to make the prairie easy to navigate.
Both trails are connected to the Eagle Ridge Trail (.2 miles), which includes beautiful views of the surrounding areas and a bench. A nine-vehicle parking lot was added in early 2024 to allow more access to these trails we plan to protect into eternity.
Donor Recognition
Between 2008, when the first land acquisition began, and 2023, when the Věčný Woods trails were completed, more than 250 generous donors supported the Věčný Prairie & Trails Project. These efforts combined to protect 55 acres with a trail system that gives visitors access to untamed spaces where the beauty of nature can reveal itself from now until eternity.
There are still opportunities to support the Věčný Prairie & Trails Project and make our trails more accessible.
Naming Rights Opportunities:
Accessible Picnic Table (4) $5,000 each
Accessible Bench (12) $3,000 each
Věčný Prairie & Trail Project Donors
Thank you for protecting this land into eternity.
Donors listed alphabetically.
Aegon TransAmerica Foundation
Rick & Linden Aerts
Jim & Ruth Affeldt
Janice & Martha Albaugh
Kathleen & Tom Aller
Alliant Energy
Alliant Energy Foundation
Steve & Mary Beth Allsop
Neil & Dee Anderson
Bob & Arlene Anderson
Anonymous (4)
Marian Antin
Phyllis Barber
Andrew & Shari Barden
Teresa & Greg Barnett
Gerry & Kathy Barr
Bill & Lu Barron
Jann & Gordon Baustian
Gordon & Nancy Bena
Lauren Block
Jon & Kathy Bogert
Jo & Scott Bogguss
Kevin Ernster & Dora Bopp
Alan & Terry Boyden
Rebecca Brimeyer
Clarence & Char Burton
Robert & Stacy Cataldo
City of Cedar Rapids
Cedar Rapids Truck Center
Bill Chadima – Hawkeye Fire & Safety
Liz & Dana Christiansen
Christiansen Family Foundation
Terri Christoffersen
Nichole Clark
Danielle & Keel Clemmens
Tuesday Study Club
William & Lisa Coester
Tim Charles & Janice Cohea-Charles
Sally Stephenson & Kevin Collins
The Colton Family
Tim Colton
Mary Louise Condon
Josephine Cook
Bill & Britney Courter
Crescent-Janko Masonic Foundation
Marjorie & Walter Daft
DuWayne & Jennie Davidson
Les & Wendee Deal
Tom & Beth DeBoom
William & Karen Desmarais
Marie & Steve DeVries
Chris & Suzy DeWolf Donor-Advised Fund of the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation
Beth & Devon Dietz
John & Sandy Donner
Gary Donnermeyer
Randy & Dodie Easton
David & Shearon Elderkin
Glenn & Denice Elison
Susan Elliott-Bryan
Brett & Deb Engmark
Tom & Pat Ervin
Kate & Matt Evans
Jack & Nancy Evans
May & John Farlinger
Travis & Amy Fell
Ron & Kathy Fielder
Brooke & Andy Fitzgerald
Bruce & Julie Frana
Ruth & Ralph Gaede
Don & Mary Lou Gallagher
Richard & Nancy Garberson
Les & Katrina Garner
Richard & Deborah George
Karla & Gordon Gibson
Tony & Magda Golobic
Harlan Graber
Carleen Grandon
GCRCF Frontier Co-op Giving Fund
GCRCF Garner Family Fund
Sharie Greif
Marc & Cathy Gullickson
Debbie Hahn
Sheila Hahn
William Prowell & Sarah Halbrook
Bev Hannon
Eric & Shannon Hanson
Jade & Brad Hart
Don & Mary Lou Hattery
Kate Hawkins
David & Heather Hayes
Roger Heidt
Lisa & Jeff Henderson
John & Susan Hill
Jim & Ann Hoffman
The Hogg Family
Andy & Arlene Houk
James Houser & Arleen Zahn-Houser
Bob & Karen Hoyt
Mary Kopecky & Thom Lusardi in memory of Lois Kopecky
Kim & David Jennings
Erin & Erb Jensen
Lenore Jones
Robert & Janis Kazimour
Marilynn Keller
John F. Kennedy High School
Jim Kern
Don & Ana King
Christine & Roger Kirpes
Melanie & Jeff Koolbeck
Sherrie & Tom Kopecky
Doug & Diane Kopp
Larry & Mary Kramer
Vickie & Steve Kriz
David Kubicek
Helen Kupka
Kerry & Kathy Kupka
Thomas & Nancy Lackner
Becky & Joe Lahart
Scot Brown & Julie Lammers
Brad & Tamra Lang
Michelle Lecompte
Philip & Anne Lenzen
Bernie & Deanna Lettington
Jerry Ovel & Audrey Linge-Ovel
Timothy & Marie Elizabeth Loth
Charles Grado & Ruth Macke
Steve Carpenter & Mary Magner
Vince Martin
Kent & Polly Mattison
Sally & Dan McAleer
Cae McCalley
George & Janelle McClain
McLeod Charitable Foundation, Inc
Robert “Mick” & Jo Ann McNiel
Parker & Victoria Meinecke
Kate & Dick Minette
James & Nancy Mohni
Jim & Rose Marie Monagan
Darrel & Middie Morf
Paul Morf and Jennifer Merryman Endowed Fund of the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation
Clint & Gale Mote
Mark Ogden & Iris Muchmore
Shaylin Munson & family
Charles & Melanie Munro
Ryan & Alicia Murphy
Buddy & Susan Nichols
Jim & Kristin Novak
Olberg Charitable Trust
Donna Oldorf
Scott & Penny Olson
Tyler Olson
Ron & Sue Olson
The Steve Ovel Family
Scott & Jan Overland
Abby & Mike Panoske
Rich & Marion Patterson
Lisa & Rick Paulos
Meredith & Sean Pearl
Janet Manatt-Pilcher & Fred Pilcher
Billie Preston
Elizabeth Priban
Mary Priske
Eliot & Barb Protsch
Mark Andersland & Mary Susan Pruzinsky
Nancy & Tom Pugh
Lisa & Randy Ramlo
Robert & Mary Rasmussen
Raytheon Charitable Fund
Denny & Jan Redmond
Resource Enhancement and Protection, Iowa DNR
Rinderknecht Associates, Inc. Donor-Advised Fund of the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation
Randall & Danielle Rings
Charlie, Katie & Anna Rohde
Rohde Family Charitable Foundation & Dakota Red Corporation
The Rohde Family Charitable Fund
John & Karen Roltgen
The Rotary Club of Cedar Rapids
Gary Rozek
Claudia Santilli
Patrick & Kellie Sauter
Jane Schildroth
Tim & Jennifer Semelroth
Tina Sherman
Alicia Simmons
Simmons Perrine Moyer Bergman PLC
Marilyn Sippy
Kyle & Susan Skogman
Richard & Jan Smethurst
Marty & Julianne Smith
Les Smith
John & Dyan Smith
James Spencer
Kevin Eck & Sashi Solomon
Gary & Judy Stevens
Terry & Marlyse Strait
Ruth Streed
Gary & Susie Streit
Keith & Nancy Sutherland
Angeline Taake
Karen Taylor
David & Mary Taylor
Wanda Thackery
Trent & Brittany Tillman
Jim & Jean Tinker
The Tominsky Family
Pat Treneman
Donald & Shirley Turecek
Alison & Alejandro Urbina
Justin Voss
Margaret & Richard Wagner
Gayle Wallace
Brenda Warner
Duane Weber
Traci & Ron Weber
Liana & Nick Weiland
Sara Rynes-Weller & Paul Weller
Guy & Terri Wendler
Amanda & Andy Wendling
David & Michelle Wenzel
Maxine Westrom
Brian & Kristin White
Phil & Laura White
Tim White
Jean Wiedenheft
Dr. Marty & Mrs. Diane Wiesenfeld
Robin Williams
Mike & Esther Wilson
Adam Wright
Anna Yakos