Savage Woods State Preserve

David Savage Memorial Woods is a 12-acre preserve featuring a small upland forest. It is located ten miles southwest of Mount Pleasant in western Henry County. The woodland had been owned by the Savage family since 1904. In 1966, it was given to the Iowa chapter of The Nature Conservancy by Alice Savage in memory of David Savage, a botanist. It was dedicated as a biological state preserve in 1980. Located in the Southern Iowa Drift Plain landform region, this preserve is part of a landscape of rolling hills with branching rivers and streams. Topography within the preserve includes an upland ridge intermittent streambed. This upland forest is dominated by white oak, red oak, and shagbark hickory with ironwood, black cherry, and red elm present in the understory. Sugar maple is prominent in the overstory on lower slopes and along the streambed.