Nahant Marsh Preserve and Education Center

Nahant marsh is a 513-acre nature preserve located on the southern outskirts of Davenport, Iowa. Nahant Marsh is an oxbow wetland complex, with the oxbow wetlands being relicts of prehistoric Mississippi River channels. In addition to the permanently inundated oxbow wetlands, Nahant Marsh houses seasonally inundated wetlands, saturated sedge meadows, bottomland forest, upland prairies, and small pockets of remnant prairie and wet meadows.

Formerly, Nahant Marsh was an EPA Superfund Cleanup Site contaminated with heavy metals and polycyclic aeromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) due to decades of skeet and trap shooting over the wetland. The EPA began remediation of the site in 1999, removing over 243-tons of lead shot from marsh sediments.

Today, approximately half of the Nahant Marsh oxbow wetland complex is dedicated as a nature preserve and has a nature center that provides year-round environmental education programming. The remaining, unprotected half of Nahant Marsh is located on the opposite side of Interstate-280, with portions of the wetland filled annually for commercial and residential expansion.

Click here to learn more about this site as well as a Friends Group on the Nahant Marsh Education Center’s website.

Amenities:

Visitors will enjoy Nahant Marsh’s plants and wildlife through use of the maintained trails, a dock, boardwalk, and bird blind. In addition to trails near the nature center, there is a wonderful trail on the opposite (west) side of the marsh. To get to this trail, take Wapello Avenue west of the nature center entrance 0.3 miles. There will be an access road and gate on the north side of the road.

How to Get There:

From Iowa Highway 22, take Wapello Avenue southeast for 0.7 miles. The entrance and parking lot will be on the north side of the road just before the railroad tracks.

From Iowa Highway 61, take South Concord Road southwest for 1.3 miles, take a right onto Wapello Avenue and continue for ½ mile. The entrance and parking lot will be on the north side of the road just before the railroad tracks.

Nearby Sites of Interest

• Credit Island Park: Take Wapello Avenue southeast ½ mile to South Concord Road. Turn left onto South Concord road and continue 1.3 miles to West River Drive. Turn right onto West River Drive for 0.9 miles; the Credit Island Park entrance will be on the right.

• Fairmount Cemetery Prairie Remnant: Fairmount Cemetery houses a small area of remnant prairie on the bluff overlooking Nahant Marsh. Take Wapello Avenue northwest to Rockingham Road (IA-22). Turn right onto Rockingham Road and continue for 1.5 miles. Turn left onto South Fairmount Street for 0.4 miles. Take a left onto Hobson Avenue and take the two first left-hand roads for approximately 0.2 miles.

• Black Hawk State Park: Take Wapello Avenue northwest for 0.7 miles. Take Highway IA-22/Rockingham Road left( south) 0.3 miles to Interstate 280. Take I-280 east for 1.6 miles and take the 31^st Avenue exit. Turn right onto Sunset Lane for 0.3 miles and continue onto to 31^st avenue for 0.7 miles. Turn right onto 11^th street for 1 mile and turn left onto 46^th Avenue/Blackhawk Road for 0.6 miles.

Literature and Links

Click here to view a Google Scholar search for additional literature using the pre-filled search terms of "Nahant Marsh Iowa"

Click here to see a soils map for the Nahant Marsh Preserve (does not include Carp Lake Unit).

Ackerman, A., B. Aubry, K. Berg and E. Fullenkamp. 2008. Insect Herbivory on the leaves of Polygonum sp. in Relation to Foliage Height. St. Ambrose Report. 9 pp.

Ahrendsen, D., A. Male, M. Rogalski and T. Sigona. 2008. Is There a Difference in the Diversity of Insects in Different Areas of the Prairie? St. Ambrose University Report. 9 pp.

Anderson-Cruz, Jennifer S. 2009. Anuran Response to the Contamination and Reclamation of Nahant Marsh, an Environmental Protection Agency Superfund Site. M.S. Thesis, Western Illinois University. 76 pp.

Banwarth, Russ. 2005. Small Mammal Fauna of Nahant Marsh, Davenport, Iowa. St. Ambrose University Report. 16 pp.

Burns, V., N. Henggeler, and J. McDonnell. No Date Provided. Species Diversity in Relation to the Proximity to a Central Body of Water at Nahant Marsh. St. Ambrose University Report. 10pp.

Clingerman, Forrest John. 2005. Emplaced in the World: Theological Modeling and the Concept of Nature. PhD University of Iowa.

Forney, J., J. Lim and L. Olson. 2009. Web Height and Size Do Not Affect Insect Catching Efficiency of the Banded Garden Spider, Argiope trifasciata. St. Ambrose Report. 6 pp.

Gould, E., A. Urra and T. Williams. 2008. Gender Dimorphism in Immature Northern Leopard Frogs, Ranna pipiens. St. Ambrose University Report. 9 pp.

Helle, Rachel. 2003. Lead Concentration of Tissue from Small Mammals at Nahant Marsh. St. Ambrose University Report. 9 pp.

Helle, Rachel. 2004. Lead Concentration of Liver Tissue from Peromyscus leucopus at Nahant Marsh. St. Ambrose University Report. 17 pp.

Hennes, Matthew. 2008. An Investigation into the use of Electrified Barriers for Predator Exclusion in Turtle Nesting Habitats. St. Ambrose University Research Proposal. 10 pp.

Kemmann, K., J. Lindstrom and I. VanAntwerp. 2009. A Comparison of Soil Nitrogen Content in the Presecnec or Absecne of Partridge Peas (Chamaecrista fasciculata). St. Ambrose University Research Poster. 1 pp.

Pennock, Sheri. 2003. The Turtles of Nahant Marsh. St. Ambrose University Research Proposal. 25 pp.

Pennock, Sheri. 2004. The Turtles of Nahant Marsh: A study of species diversity and abundance. St. Amborse University Report. 36 pp.

Welding, M., A. Riesberg and D. Schlimmer. 2007. The Relationship between the Tunneling System of the Eastern Mole (Scalopus aquaticus (Talpidae, Soricomorpha)) and Soil Types. St. Ambrose University Report. 6 pp.