Driving DirectionsFrom Creighton, take Route B west 4 miles, then Index Road south 1 mile to the area’s main entrance. HighlightsThis area contains 2,500 acres of opportunistic wetlands (no pumping capability) as well as old fields, cropland, and forest. Facilities/features: disabled user waterfowl blind, six fishable ponds (six acres total), and five permanent streams. About This AreaSettle's Ford Conservation Area is located on both sides of the South Grand River in southeast Cass and northeast Bates Counties and is easily accessed from Cass County Route B.This 6,766-acre area was purchased from willing sellers, primarily using federal funds provided as compensation for the Trimble Wildlife Area, which was inundated by the Smithville Reservoir.Southern Cass and Bates Counties were hotbeds of border violence before and during the Civil War. Eventually all residents were evacuated by federal troops under General Ewing's infamous Order No.11. Shortly after resettlement was permitted, a family with the name of Settle operated a mill and ford in the center of what is currently the conservation area.Settle's Ford is rich in diversity and contains about 3,000 acres of bottomlands and 3,700 acres of uplands. Native warm season grasses, grain crops, and trees have been planted to provide winter cover and nesting habitat for a wide variety of wildlife.Water control structures are used in the bottomlands to provide shallow water for wetland dependent wildlife species.The area contains portions of the old channel of the now channelized South Grand River, small glades, upland and lowland hardwoods, several small intermittent streams, two large open bottomland tracts, several ponds, and 14 wetland management pools. These features and others provide a wealth of habitat for many wild plants and animals and many recreation opportunities.This conservation area was acquired in part through the Pittman-Roberson Wildlife Restoration Act administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.