Most people think of Iowa as nothing but endless cornfields, but there is a place in the middle of the state where something wild and ancient is making a remarkable comeback. Thousands of acres of tallgrass prairie, the kind that once stretched across the entire Midwest, are being carefully stitched back together one seed at a time.
And roaming through it all are bison, real American bison, moving across the landscape exactly as their ancestors did for thousands of years. This is not a zoo or a theme park.
It is a serious conservation effort that also happens to be one of the most quietly stunning places to visit in the entire state.
The Refuge That Is Rewriting Iowa’s Natural History
Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, located at 9981 Pacific Street, Prairie City, Iowa, is one of the largest prairie restoration projects in the United States. The U.S…