Pilot Knob State Preserve is a 238-acre area in Pilot Knob State Park, four miles east of Forest City in northeastern Hancock County. It features a “poor fen” and an extensive forest on a prominent hill associated with the Algona and Altamont moraines. In 1921, a group of local citizens purchased land around Pilot Knob and donated it to the state. The Iowa Conservation Commission established this area as a state park in 1924. In 1968, a large portion of the park was dedicated as a biological state preserve.