The trail through the Neff Wetlands. West entrance into Lamson Woods.
Look at this bridge being built. Lamson Woods boardwalk, built by volunteers.
Take a look at these photo essays:
Travel the Lamson Woods-Neff Trail
Take a round trip on the Lamson Woods-Neff Trail
The floods of 2008 damaged the dike trail
The trail in mid-August & late October 2008
Lamson Woods-Neff Trail Specs
Length= 0.4 miles
Surface= The Zillman Bridge/boardwalk has a wooden deck. Crushed limestone covers the Neff Family Wetlands dike.
East Entry= on Glasgow Rd, 0.6 miles south of Hwy 34, near Middle Glasgow Rd (parking available).
Connects to the Fry Trail.
West Entry= Intersection of E. Fillmore Ave, S. Park St, and Mint Blvd. Parking available.
Mint Blvd will be used to connect to the South Segment Trail.
Walking Trails: The walking-only trails are for walking only. The trail in Lamson Woods is in a State Preserve - please obey all of the rules. The Neff Walking Trail connects to the Lamson Woods Walking Trail.
See the Walking-only Trails page.
See a topo map here.
See a satellite view here.
Read more about Lamson Woods.
The Neff Wetlands before the trail was surfaced. Kiosk in west parking lot.
Lamson Woods State Preserve
Lamson Woods is a 43-acre woodland preserve located on the southeast edge of Fairfield. This hilly, wooded area was willed to the city of Fairfield by Carrie Lamson Ross in 18930. Originally "Lamson's Pasture" was a park that included Fairfield's first golf course. The golf course was in a pasture for cows and pigs along a small woodland, and was dubbed "cow-pasture golf". It was a favorite area for hiking and nature study for people of all ages. The woodland was dedicated as a biological state preserve in 1978.
The preserve is a mixture of upland and lowland forest. Mesic and dry woodland species occupy the slope and ravines that are cut into Pre-Illinoian glacial deposits (500,000 to 2.5 million years old) typical of the Southern Iowa Drift Plain landform region. Trees occupying the canopy include cottonwood, white oak, bur oak, shingle oak, shagbark hickory, Americam elm, hackberry, and black cherry. Ohio buckeye can be found in the understory with hazeknut along the woodland edges. A planted pine grove is located in the southwest corner of the preserve.
The spring wildflower display begins with the blooming of bloodroot, blubells, and spring beauty, followed by prairie trillium, toothwort, white trout-lily, blue phlox, wild geranium, mayapple, Solomon's seal, swamp buttercup, and wilh hyacinth. By May, moonseed and Jacob's ladder can be seen in flower followed by jumpseed and pale touch-me-not in July. Augist brings the blooming of hog peanut among the sensitive dren and maindenhair fern fronds. In the fall, the bright red leaves of Virginia creeper can be seen crawling up the trunks of trees or along the ground.
(From The Guide to Iowa's State Preserves).
To learn more about the Iowa DNR State Preserves program, go to the Iowa DNR website.
