The Hollows

The Hollows Conservation Area encompasses 478 acres and hosts an assortment of natural communities including sand prairie, wet silt loam prairie, and basin marsh habitats. Within its boundaries, 335 native wetland and woodland wildflowers, grasses, and plants can be spotted along the trails and around the campgrounds; these include little bluestem, rough blazing star, prairie dock, compass plant, golden Alexander, bird’s foot violet, spiderwort, trillium, horsetail and bottle gentian, as well as six state endangered and threatened plant species. The Hollows is an example of a site that is in an ecological state of flux.  Native species are doing their best to thrive in an environment that has felt numerous human pressures over the years ranging from agricultural uses to extensive gravel mining.  Little by little pockets of native plants are thriving and are a testament to their own success story.