It is the desire of the O'Brien Conservation Board to provide the best possible education and preservation with regard to the nature and environment so unique to this area.  The Prairie Heritage Center provides classrooms, exhibit areas, demonstration plots and interpretive trails to aid in increasing the public's understanding of the prairie ecosystem and history of the area. Regular, year-round environmental education programs for school groups, 4-H groups, scout groups and the general public are presented at the center by staff naturalists and guest speakers.



The Waterman area offers some of the most breath-taking views of nature in the area. Formed during the last ice age by the movement of glaciers, the geographic valley we are nestled near a geographical wonder known as a hanging valley. These glaciers carved the beautiful bluffs, valleys, rivers and lakes we see today. They also deposited some of the richest soil, known as till, in the world.



In addition to the landscape, the Waterman Area offers a wide variety of flora and fauna, indigenous to the area for thousands of years. Much of the native prairie grasses, wildflowers and tree growth look the same today as they would have when the first native peoples inhabited this land. There are even plots of land in the vicinity that remain virgin prairie, untilled by human hands or machinery.



In the mid-1940's Dr. Ada Hayden of Iowa State University conducted a statewide inventory of prairie remnants. Her #1 site for preservation is the Waterman area. It should be noted that according to a report for the Nature Conservancy, this site is one of the few locations for the Prairie Bush Clover, a rare species listed with the federal government. The Conservancy has also identified this area as "as site of regional significance in our Northern Tallgrass Ecoregional Plan".



The area is so noteworthy in beauty, it is now part of the State of Iowa's Scenic By-Way Program and is located along Northwest Iowa's Glacial Trail Scenic Byway.


Check-In / Out Availability Check-in is after N/A and check-out is before N/A.

Location The Prairie Heritage Center is located:



4 1/2 miles SE of Sutherland on Highway 10 and then a mile north on Yellow Ave or 3 1/2 miles NW of Peterson on Highway 10 and then a mile north on Yellow Ave.



Get Directions From Google Maps






Amenities

  • Handicap Accessible
  • Restroom
Facility open to the public during open hours. Tours and activities available upon request. 

Hours of Operation & Seasons

Wednesday through Friday: 9:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.

Summer Hours (May-September) Saturday & Sunday: 1:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M.

Winter Hours Sunday: 1:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M.


Address

4931 Yellow Avenue
Ph: 712-295-7200

Peterson, IA, 51047


Closures

Official Holidays


Availability


Where You'll Be


O'Brien County

The O'Brien County Conservation Board is located in Northwest Iowa and is home to the Prairie Heritage Center located in the Hannibal Waterman Wildlife Area. Additionally, the O'Brien County Conservation Board manages 26 individual parks, natural areas, preserves, and prairies encompassing some 942 acres across the county.

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