Out on the Trails: Check out Panther Pond, UNI Biological Preserve Trail

Photo by Ash Seery

This is the second in a series of articles titled, Out on the Trails, which details and reviews different trails featured around the Cedar Valley. According to the American Discovery Trail Society, Cedar Falls is considered a premier “trail town,” and by combining mile counts with Waterloo, the Cedar Valley area boasts over 130+ miles of paved, hard, and soft trails. The name of this trail may sound familiar if you have been following along with this series, and it should. The first article of this series actually discussed the UNI Biological Preserve Trails; however, I failed to realize that there are actually multiple parts of this “trail” around Cedar Falls. This is because UNI preserves multiple ecosystems around Cedar Falls that aren’t entirely connected to one another. So, for this article, I will specifically be focusing on the trails surrounding UNI’s Panther Pond, or their wetlands trail. 

To start, if you are wondering who the dog is in the cover photo, that is my dog, Maggie. Although she loved the trail (10 sniffs out of 10), I would not recommend this trail to people who want to walk their dogs here. Because of the wetlands, this trail is commonly very wet, and if you don’t like cleaning up after your furry friend every time you get home from a walk, this is not the trail for you and your pup. Additionally, since it is a soft trail leading around a partial wetland and wooded area there aren’t many trash cans, so there isn’t a good place to throw away dog waste. Regardless, I do believe that it is a nice trail to walk, with your dog or not if such things mentioned before bother you.

To find this trail, simply head down Hudson Road to the UNI Dome. It can be found on the UNI Dome’s Northern side and is hard to miss. This soft trail then stretches from its starting point near Hudson road to the Prairie behind the Cedar Falls Highschool and beyond. In total, it takes about an hour to walk the entire trail and again, similarly to the UNI Biological Preserves near highway 58, the trails often loop onto each other, allowing for trail goers to pace themselves while walking near the pond.

As for wildlife, toads as well as frogs can be heard croaking throughout the area. Birds also commonly make their home here with the many trees available in the latter half of the trail. The pond also provides a nice space for water fowl like geese, ducks, and I even saw some coots on my multiple journeys out to the pond. 

Like the other UNI Biological Preserves, this trail is also maintained by UNI and those working with the UNI botanical center. Unfortunately due to its neighboring Hudson road and the high school, it is not uncommon to find a lot of trash there. Nonetheless, UNI manages the pond decently well, keeping most of the garbage out of the pond and pathways. Honestly, the most trash is gathered in the deep brush that UNI workers may be able to keep clean.

All in all, I loved walking on this trail. Due to its proximity within town, similarly to the UNI Biological Preserves near highway 58, it makes it really easy to access and explore. It’s a great way for people to have limited travel to explore and experience nature.