MUSCATINE, Iowa —Cut-up tree stumps, bulging boulders and limp logs have become  playground equipment at Flaming Prairie Park in Louisa County.

The “natural playground” gives children and their parents a chance to see nature in a different way, said Julie Ohde, the park director.

The makeover

Ohde and more than 40 volunteers on Sept. 24 took down the old metal swing set that was showing signs of age and rust and replaced patches of grass with a small mound of dirt where grass should grow for rolling and climbing; large logs and boulders for climbing and exploring and a tree-stump spiral path, much like the yellow brick road in “The Wizard of Oz.”

New parking lot posts were also erected, adding a more attractive entrance to the park. Brush was cleared near the natural wetland marsh for a better view, with a sandy path and sitting rock placed near the water’s edge.

“Natural playgrounds are a trend – a movement,” Ohde said. “It helps get kids involved with their natural environment.”

Ohde said the volunteers – from Boy Scouts to adults – were excited to see the plain lawn and fallen brush become a scenic marsh-side with climbable pieces of nature.  The price tag for the renovations is $20,000, with a majority of the funding coming from private donations, grants and Resource Enhancement and Protection, or REAP, funds.

 The Iowa Department of Natural Resources administers up to $20 million annually in REAP funds, which come from the state’s general fund, lottery funds, user fees at state parks and the sale of natural resources license plates. The money is used to fund environmental restoration projects statewide.

“Every playground is different,” Ohde said. “But if you bought a play set from the store in a box, someone else somewhere has the same one.”

The volunteers dug deep holes and stuck in the tree stumps for the spiraling path, Ohde said. She said 10 tons of sand were dumped around the stumps to keep them in place.

“As soon as we put them up, the kids were climbing on them,” Ohde said.

While many projects are complete, a few must wait. Repainting of picnic areas, a new electrical system in the campgrounds and a 50-foot dock extending from the grass into the marshland will be completed by the end of October, Ohde said.

Saving the Prairie

Ohde said Flaming Prairie Park was donated to the county in 1978 by Grain Processing Corp. of Muscatine with the county later developing the campgrounds and picnic areas.

While one side of the park hosts the marshland with several different species not found in the Mississippi, the river is accessible on the other side of the park. Two campgrounds are available, one for motorhomes and the other for “rustic camping,” Ohde said, and a large pasture of restored Iowa prairie  is maintained throughout the year with natural burns, a process that helps control the growth of prairie grasses and species.

Natural prairies at one time made up more than 99 percent of Iowa’s landscape and less than 1 percent remains. Prairie plots, like that at Flaming Prairie Park, are meant to save the plants that make up natural prairie and the habitat that used to rely on prairie to survive.

Kathy Vance, program manager for Iowa State University Extension in Louisa County, and husband, Michael, served as a resident volunteers during  the park renovation on Sept. 24.

“I was just there for me,” Vance, 48, said.

“I think the most interesting thing is that there are prairie restoration projects across the state of Iowa,” she said. “You don’t go to the park thinking you’re going to learn something about prairie restoration.”

Vance said learning about the prairie with it “right in front of you” helps one to appreciate its value.

“For the wildlife habitat it’s incredibly important,” Vance said about prairie restoration. “There is wildlife we’d like to keep in Iowa that live in those kinds of habitats.”

Nature’s importance

Ohde said Flaming Prairie Park is a “hidden gem” of southeast Iowa.

“It’s a great park and not many people know about it,” she said. “I think it’s worth it just to bring your kids to that playground.”

As Ohde strode the grounds of Flaming Prairie Park, hands in her pockets and sunglasses reflecting the setting sun, she smiled when  admitting she’s worked with the county and the park for 24 years.

“I think it’s a nice place to watch wildlife, while also being an accessible place,” Ohde said, stressing its easy location just off Stewart Road in Muscatine. “It’s a nice place for peace and quiet.”

Cell phone service signal quickly decreases inside Flaming Prairie Park, but Ohde thinks that “isn’t such a bad thing.

“You can really feel like you’re out of the city without totally leaving the city,” Ohde said.

Vance said during her volunteer time, she mostly helped moved pea gravel  and sand, but watched with a smile as the boys saw the imagination that went into turning the logs and boulders into castles and ladders.

“Watching them and helping them was the best part of all,” Vance said. “Working on a playground was a totally different experience when you see it through the eyes of kids.”

As they completed the project and the rusted swing set was piled off to the side and replaced with old logs, tree stumps and boulders, Vance said the kids quickly realized that “the natural world is a playground.”