Starr's Cave Park and Preserve

Starr’s Cave Park and Preserve is a 184-acre state nature preserve and park area owned by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and managed by Des Moines County Conservation.

The area features two miles of scenic hiking trails, a segment of the Flint River Trail, and is a place rich with natural and cultural history. 

It is also home to Starr’s Cave Nature Center, the headquarters of Des Moines County Conservation’s award-winning Environmental Education Program.

Rock formations along Flint Creek in Starr’s Cave Park and Preserve are found nowhere else in the world. The bluffs are composed of limestone and dolomite and contain hints of the area’s past, frozen in time as fossils. These fossils include brachiopods, crinoids, cup coral, and gastropods. 

Besides Starr’s Cave itself (which is closed indefinitely to protect bats, see below), there are two other caves: Devil’s Kitchen and Crinoid Cavern (see map in photo gallery). Unlike Starr’s Cave, these two were not formed naturally but instead are manmade. Word has it that mineral prospectors were looking for zinc back in the 1920s. To see what lay behind the surface, they blasted the rock with dynamite, creating large openings for future park explorers to marvel at and explore.

Rules for the Preserve Area

• The preserve is intended only for visitor observation and other passive recreation.
• The preserve is open to casual visitors, organized groups, and research visitors. Research permission must be secured in advance from the State Preserves Board and Des Moines County Conservation.
• Visitor activities are limited to walking and observing. Visitors may traverse anywhere on the preserve without special permission from the Board, providing they stay on marked trails and do not disturb the preserve beyond the limit it can support without permanent deterioration.
• Park hours are 6 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
• No hunting or trapping
• No fishing
• Rock climbing on cliffs is dangerous and illegal
• Pets must be leashed
• Fires in grill or fire ring only
• No collection or destruction of plants, mushrooms, animals, fossils, rocks, or artifacts
• No motorized vehicles on or off trails
• Cross-country skiing is allowed when there is 4" or more of snow on the trails
• No littering or defacing natural features or park property
• Report all accidents to Des Moines County Conservation at 319-753-8260

About Starr's Cave  Starr's Cave Facebook

Park Features

Starr's Cave Nature Center

In addition to serving as headquarters for Des Moines County Conservation's award-winning Environmental Education Program, Starr's Cave Nature Center, located inside Starr's Cave Park and Preserve, offers many other amenities.

Starr’s Cave Nature Center is a building bearing a striking resemblance to a barn. That is because the original use of the nature center was as a barn. Estimated to have been built around the 1910-1920s, the barn belonged to William Starr (from whom the park is named after). Starr was a German immigrant who homesteaded the land of present day Starr’s Cave Park and Preserve around the 1860s. The Starr family lived in the limestone house which still stands today next to the nature center. Along with horses, cows, and other livestock, the Starr's ran a winery. The hilltops now shaded by trees were once covered in grapevines.

In the early 1970s, the barn was renovated and made into a bar and restaurant named the Sycamore Inn. Present Starr’s Cave Nature Center staff often hear visitor accounts of the good old times that were had at the Sycamore Inn. Later, in the late 1970s, the barn and 184 acres of land surrounding it, was purchased by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR). It was at this time the land was designated a Park and Preserve and made open to the public. Although Starr's Cave Nature Center is owned by the DNR, up to present day it has been managed by DMCC since the DNR purchased the land. Presently, Starr’s Cave Nature Center is the hub of DMCC’s environmental education program.

In addition to all the things to do within Starr's Cave Park and Preserve, the nature center itself has many displays and things to see and learn about, including live animals. The nature center has recently undergone major renovations with the first and second floors being almost completely demolished and rebuilt. New displays and activities accompany the building's renovations. 

Starr's Cave Nature Center maintains the following hours:  

Summer Hours*
April 1 – September 30
Saturday: Noon-4:00pm
Sunday: Noon-4:00pm

or schedule a visit at 319-753-5808

Winter Hours*
October 1 – March 31
Tuesday – Friday: 9:00am – 3:00pm

*The nature center may not always be open during these hours as staff is regularly out teaching environmental education in the schools and our parks. We always suggest calling 319-753-5808 before your visit to make sure the nature center will be open. 

Address:

11627 Starr's Cave Rd.
Burlington, IA 52601

Park Hours

Location

From Highway 61, take Sunnyside Avenue or Upper Flint Road to Irish Ridge Road. Follow signs to Starr's Cave Road. Nature Center is at the end.