Decorah Ice Cave State Preserve has one of the largest glacières (ice cave

Ice cave

The term ice cave refers to any type of natural cave that contains significant amounts of perennial ice...

s) in the Midwestern United States

Midwestern United States

The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....

. It consists of a 3 acres (12,140.6 m²) parcel of land at the edge of Barbara Barnhart VanPeenen Memorial Park in the northern portion of the city of Decorah

Decorah, Iowa

Decorah is a city in and the county seat of Winneshiek County, Iowa, United States. The population was 8,172 at the 2000 census. Decorah is located at the intersection of State Highway 9 and U.S...

, in Winnesheik County

Winneshiek County, Iowa

-2010 census:The 2010 census recorded a population of 21,056 in the county, with a population density of . There were 8,721 housing units, of which 7,997 were occupied.-2000 census:...

, Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

.

Ice caves are one characteristic of karst topography

Karst topography

Karst topography is a geologic formation shaped by the dissolution of a layer or layers of soluble bedrock, usually carbonate rock such as limestone or dolomite, but has also been documented for weathering resistant rocks like quartzite given the right conditions.Due to subterranean drainage, there...

, along with sinkhole

Sinkhole

A sinkhole, also known as a sink, shake hole, swallow hole, swallet, doline or cenote, is a natural depression or hole in the Earth's surface caused by karst processes — the chemical dissolution of carbonate rocks or suffosion processes for example in sandstone...

s and cave systems, all of which are present in the area, a portion of the Driftless Area of Iowa.

The cave was gifted to Decorah in 1954, and remains the property of the city. It was declared a state geological state preserve in 1973. It was placed on the National Register of Historical Places in 1978.

Sources

• National Register of Historic Places, Winneshiek County, Iowa Retrieved July 16, 2007