PUBLIC PARKS OF IOWA 107 



Decorah is at the terminus of the Decorah division of the Rock Island 

 railroad, and is also served by the Milwaukee road, connection with the 

 main lines being made at Gal mar, twelve miles distant. It is also on 

 the Imperial and Burlington highways. 



As I approach the close of this article I realize that I have drifted 

 somewhat from the original purpose of telling why Decorah is one of 

 the places that lovers of nature at her best should visit, but when 

 a man has lived all his life amid such surroundings, growing up with 

 its citizens and knowing all that they have endeavored to accomplish, it 

 is but natural to wish to give them credit for their part in making this 

 one of Iowa's worth while cities. 



Come and visit us. The latch-string is always within reach and will 

 lead to a cordial welcome. Iowa Magazine, April, 1918. 



THE DECORAH ICE CAVE. 

 By B. W. Hoadley. 



The Decoraih ice cave, located in the face of the bluff, on the north 

 side of the river opposite Decorah, is the most interesting of the many 

 caverns which the Galena limestone contains. The walls of this cave, 

 dry and bare in the autumn and early winter, are coated, during the 

 spring and early summer, with a layer of ice. 



The cave is merely one opening into a vast network of fissures; pene- 

 trating the underlying rocklayers for miles around. In the fall as the air 

 cools and contracts in volume, it enters the cave from which it emerges 

 as a cool draught when the sun's warmth again penetrates the rock 

 layers. At the mouth of the cave, where the expansion is the most 

 rapid, ice forms on the north wall. The cold, then, is merely the stored 

 up cold of the former winter. 



ONEOTA RIVER AT DECORAH. 

 By James H. Lees, Geologist. 



Decorah has splendid possibilities for park areas. The entire river 

 valley here is beautiful and majestic in its proportions. It is carved 

 nearly 300 feet into the solid limestone and great cliffs and towers lift 

 their massive forms scores upon scores of feet above the placid river 

 flowing past their feet. One of the most magnificent of these cliffs is 

 just below the steel bridge across the river at the northeast edge of 

 town. This cliff rises, vertically to a height of over 150 feet above 

 the water and beyond its crest the somewhat gentler slope rises an- 

 other 100 feet and more. A great number of conifers crown the summit 

 and upper part of this escarpment and stand out in bold relief from the 

 deciduous trees amongst them. 



