Brinton Timber's Palisades of the Checaqua

The Brinton Timber limestone palisades presiding on the Skunk River have been known unique land forms of the area since before settlement. These cliffs towering on the Skunk River are rendered in the careful drawings of the earliest Federal territorial land survey maps and records that are held in the State of Iowa archives. -Doug

"The Sauk and Meskwaki referred to the Skunk River as "Shecaqua".^[2] This name was probably mistranslated;

one early settler wrote, "I was informed by Frank Labisner, United States interpreter for the Sac and Fox Indians, that the name of Skunk River was a wrong interpretation. The Indian name was Checaqua. which, in their language is anything of a strong or obnoxious smell, such as onions. I think, that from the fact that the head waters of the stream abounded with wild onions, the interpretation should be 'Onion.'"^[3] Species of fish found in the Skunk River include smallmouth bass, gar, walleye, catfish, carp, bluegill, sheephead, bullhead, and largemouth bass."

See

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skunk_River

The Palisades Trail? There is not one. The path to the Brinton Timber palisades is unknown by most people in modern time.

North facing algific slopes,

Algific means "cold producing"

..that the term may become restricted to the flora and fauna characteristic of these zones within the Driftless Area.[2]