Dunning's Spring

Dunning's Spring is fed not by a large river but by groundwater, a spring that rises from the limestone bluffs and spills down a rocky hillside in a long cascade. The constant flow of cold, clear spring water keeps the falls running through the seasons, though they are fullest and loudest in spring and after heavy rain.

The falls take their name from an early settler who built a mill near the spring, harnessing its reliable water. Today the site is a public park, with the waterfall reachable on a short walk from the parking area and trails climbing into the wooded bluffs above for those who want to explore further.

The waterfall exists because of the Driftless Area, a region that the last ice sheets missed, leaving northeast Iowa a rumpled country of steep hills, rocky bluffs, and deep valleys utterly unlike the flat prairie most people picture in Iowa. Groundwater moving through the soluble limestone here emerges as countless cold springs, some of which, like Dunning's, spill out as waterfalls.

Those same cold springs feed the region's celebrated trout streams and keep its valleys green and cool. The Driftless country is a place of caves, bluffs, spring-fed creeks, and hardwood forest, and a stop at Dunning's Spring is a fine introduction to the geology and beauty that set this corner of the state apart.

The town of Decorah, at the foot of the falls, is one of Iowa's most appealing small cities, home to Luther College and a strong Norwegian-American heritage. The Vesterheim museum here is the leading museum of Norwegian immigration in the country, and the town's shops, cafes, and festivals reflect its Scandinavian roots.

Decorah is also an outdoor town, with the Upper Iowa River for paddling, trout streams for fishing, bluff trails for hiking, and a nesting pair of eagles that has drawn watchers from around the world. Dunning's Spring fits naturally into a Decorah visit, one of several natural attractions that make the town a hub for exploring the Driftless.

The Driftless country of northeast Iowa is the ancestral homeland of the Ho-Chunk, the Meskwaki, and the Sauk peoples, along with the Ioway, for whom the state is named, who lived and traveled through these valleys and along the rivers. Their descendants remain part of the region's living Native communities today.

The cold springs, sheltered valleys, and abundant game of this rugged landscape drew Native peoples for thousands of years, and the great mound-building traditions of the upper Mississippi reach into this region. A visit to Dunning's Spring takes in a landscape shaped by water and time, and rich in a human history far older than the town at its foot.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.