Loess Hills Scenic Byway

The Loess Hills Scenic Byway is not a single highway but a stitched-together route of state and county roads that follow the hills down Iowa's western border. The main spine runs about 220 miles from Akron in the north to the Missouri line near Hamburg in the south, staying just inland of the Missouri River the whole way. Branching off the spine are a series of side trips called excursion loops, adding well over a hundred more miles of driving for anyone who wants to climb higher into the ridges and reach the best overlooks.

The hills themselves are the whole point. Loess is a fine, tan silt that the wind carried in and dropped here at the end of the last ice age, and it stacks up into slopes far steeper than ordinary soil could hold. The result is a landscape of narrow ridgelines, hidden hollows, and dry, west-facing prairie slopes that feel wonderfully out of place in the flat farm country all around them. From the crest of a ridge you can see for miles across the Missouri River valley into Nebraska.

The driving experience changes with the road under your tires. The paved main route is an easy, relaxed drive that any car can handle, winding gently through river towns and along the base of the hills. But many of the excursion loops climb onto the ridges on gravel and dirt, and those can turn slick and greasy after rain, since wet loess gets slippery fast. Take the loops slowly, watch the sky, and you will be rewarded with the quietest and most sweeping views the byway has to offer.

Most travelers reach the Loess Hills Scenic Byway from Interstate 29, which runs north to south along the Missouri River and shadows the byway for its entire length. Coming from the north, start at Sioux City, where Interstate 29 meets the top of the hills. Sioux City makes a natural gateway, and from there the byway heads south along the ridges toward Council Bluffs and beyond.

Coming from Omaha or Council Bluffs in the south-central stretch, you are already in the heart of the Loess Hills. From the Council Bluffs area you can pick up the byway and drive north toward Sioux City or south toward the Missouri line, exiting Interstate 29 at the small river towns that sit at the foot of the hills. Loess Hills State Forest near Pisgah and the overlooks around Little Sioux and Moorhead are all short hops off the interstate.

From the far south, near Hamburg and the Missouri border, Waubonsie State Park marks the byway's southern end, again just off Interstate 29. Wherever you join it, remember that the marquee scenery sits up on the ridges, reached by the marked excursion loops, so plan to leave the valley floor and climb into the hills to see the byway at its best.

The hills the byway follows are ancient, but the road as a designated scenic route is fairly young. For most of Iowa's history these ridges were simply hard-to-farm country, prized for pasture and orchards and quietly bypassed by travelers hurrying along the river bottoms. Local roads and county highways had long linked the small towns strung along the base of the hills, and it was those existing roads that boosters gradually knit together into a single signed touring route to show the world a landform most of America had never heard of.

The state of Iowa recognized the route first, naming it a state scenic byway on July 8, 1998. Its national moment came soon after. On June 15, 2000, the Federal Highway Administration named the Loess Hills Scenic Byway a National Scenic Byway, an honor reserved for roads with outstanding scenic, natural, historic, cultural, recreational, or archaeological value. For the Loess Hills the case was overwhelming, since the hills are a geological rarity found at this scale in only one other place on the planet.

The story of the land runs far deeper than any road sign. The loess itself was laid down during and after the last ice age, roughly 150,000 to 12,000 years ago, when glaciers ground rock into fine flour and meltwater rivers spread it across the plains. As those floodplains dried out, strong winds lifted the finest silt and dropped it here along the eastern edge of the Missouri valley, building bluffs dozens of feet deep. Native peoples lived among these hills for thousands of years, and later the ridges became a landmark for explorers, including the Lewis and Clark expedition, which passed along the Missouri at the foot of the hills in 1804.

One chapter of that history is written right into the byway's roll of stops. Sergeant Charles Floyd of the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery died near present-day Sioux City in August 1804, the only member of the expedition to die on the entire journey. He was buried on a bluff above the river, and a tall stone obelisk raised in his memory now stands as a National Historic Landmark near the northern end of the byway, tying the modern scenic road back to the earliest American exploration of this corner of the country.

• The Loess Hills are one of only two places on Earth where wind-blown silt has piled into hills this deep and this steep. The only comparable landform is a region of China.
• The word loess is pronounced roughly like 'luss' and simply means wind-deposited silt. When it is dry it holds astonishingly steep slopes, but when it gets wet it turns slick and can slump, which is why the gravel excursion loops get greasy after rain.
• The Loess Hills Scenic Byway was named a National Scenic Byway on June 15, 2000, after first becoming an Iowa state scenic byway on July 8, 1998.
• The dry, sun-baked, west-facing slopes support pockets of native prairie so tough and specialized that some western plants and insects reach their far eastern limit here, including yucca, a plant most people associate with the desert Southwest.
• Sergeant Charles Floyd, honored by the tall monument near Sioux City, was the only member of the entire Lewis and Clark expedition to die during the journey, in August 1804.
• The Hitchcock Nature Center near Council Bluffs runs a HawkWatch tower where counters tally one of the larger fall raptor migrations in the interior of the country, from red-tailed and broad-winged hawks to bald and even golden eagles riding the ridge winds.
• Beyond its roughly 220-mile main route, the byway offers well over a hundred additional miles of marked excursion loops that climb off the valley floor and onto the highest and most scenic ridges.
• Fire is actually good for these hills. Prairie managers use controlled burns to beat back invading trees and keep the rare hilltop prairies open, the way natural wildfires and grazing bison once did.

The Federal Highway Administration named the Loess Hills Scenic Byway a National Scenic Byway on June 15, 2000. It had first been recognized as an Iowa state scenic byway on July 8, 1998. The national honor is reserved for roads with outstanding scenic, natural, historic, cultural, or recreational value, and the byway earned it thanks to its rare wind-built hills, found at this scale in only one other place on Earth.

The main route runs about 220 miles from Akron in the north down to the Missouri state line near Hamburg in the south, following Iowa's western edge. Driven straight through without stops, the main spine takes most of a day. Add the marked excursion loops, which climb onto the best ridges and add well over a hundred more miles, and most travelers spread the byway across a full day or two.

Traveling north to south, the highlights include Sioux City and the Sergeant Floyd Monument near the top, Loess Hills State Forest and the Murray Hill Scenic Overlook in the central hills, Preparation Canyon State Park, the Hitchcock Nature Center with its fall hawk migration near Council Bluffs, and Waubonsie State Park at the southern end. The finest scenery sits up on the ridges reached by the excursion loops.

Yes. The byway follows public state and county roads, so driving it costs nothing. Most of the parks and overlooks along the route, including the state forest and the state parks, are free to enter as well, though a few nature centers or campgrounds may charge modest fees for certain services. The scenery itself, from the overlooks to the ridgetop prairies, is free to enjoy.

Spring and fall are the finest seasons, offering clear air, mild weather, and the best light on the ridges, along with spring wildflowers and brilliant fall color. Early morning and the hour before sunset bring low, golden light that makes the folded hills glow. Summer is green and pleasant but can be hazy and humid, while winter turns the prairie tawny and quiet under low sun.

Yes, the byway is open all year, and the paved main route stays drivable in every season with no seasonal gate or winter closure on the main spine. It is maintained like any Iowa highway, but expect midwestern winter hazards of snow, ice, and blowing snow on the exposed ridges. The gravel excursion loops are another matter and can become slick or impassable when snow-covered or thawing, so in winter it is safest to stay on the paved spine, slow down, and check current road and weather conditions before you set out.

Not for the main route. The paved spine of the Loess Hills Scenic Byway is an easy drive that any passenger car handles well. The catch is the excursion loops that climb onto the ridges, many of which are gravel or dirt. Those are usually fine for a regular car when dry, but wet loess gets very slick, so in muddy conditions a higher-clearance vehicle and careful driving are a real help.

Services cluster in the river towns at the foot of the hills, such as Sioux City, Council Bluffs, and the smaller communities strung along Interstate 29, rather than up on the ridges. The overlooks and many parks have few or no facilities, so it is wise to fuel up and use restrooms in the valley towns before you climb into the hills, and to carry water and snacks for the quieter stretches.

Coverage is generally decent near the river towns and along Interstate 29, since Sioux City and Council Bluffs are close by, but it can grow spotty and unreliable up on the remote ridges and in the deeper hollows of the excursion loops. It is smart to download your maps for offline use before you leave the valley, and not to count on a strong signal in the quietest, highest reaches of the hills.

The hills are built almost entirely of loess, a fine silt that the wind carried in and dropped here at the end of the last ice age. Loess holds far steeper slopes than ordinary soil, so it stacks into sharp ridges and deep hollows found at this scale in only one other place on Earth, a region of China. The dry, west-facing slopes even support prairie plants like yucca that usually live much farther west, which makes the hills a genuine natural wonder.