Iowa packs a wide range of attractions into one state: movie landmarks, limestone caves, Mississippi River bluffs, historic villages, and the largest truck stop in the world. Here are 15 of the best things to do across the Hawkeye State, organized by type.
Iconic Sports and Pop Culture Landmarks
1. Walk the Field of Dreams in Dyersville. The farm where the 1989 film was shot still stands, with the white farmhouse and the diamond cut into the corn. Major League Baseball played regular-season games here in 2021 and 2022. On a quiet day, visitors can play catch in the outfield.
2. Do the Wave at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. At the end of the first quarter of every Iowa Hawkeyes home game, fans turn to wave at patients in the University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital, which overlooks the field. The tradition started in 2017.
Cultural and Historic Heavyweights
3. Eat your way through the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines. Held each August, it is one of the largest state fairs in the country, drawing more than a million visitors. It is known for the 600-pound butter cow, food served on a stick, and grandstand concerts.
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4. Step back in time at the Amana Colonies. Seven villages founded by German Pietist settlers in the 1850s, now a National Historic Landmark with communal-era buildings, German restaurants, wineries, and craft shops.
5. Drive the covered bridges of Madison County near Winterset. Six historic covered bridges remain, the subject of the novel and 1995 film. Winterset is also the birthplace of John Wayne, born there in 1907, and his birthplace home is open to tour.
Natural Wonders and Outdoor Adventure
6. Explore Maquoketa Caves State Park. The park has the largest number of caves of any in Iowa, with limestone passages and a trail system connecting them. Bring a flashlight and shoes you do not mind getting muddy.
7. Spend a summer on the Iowa Great Lakes around Okoboji. This cluster of natural glacial lakes in the northwest corner is a longtime summer destination, with boating, beaches, lakeside bars, and Arnolds Park Amusement Park, which dates to 1889.
8. Stand among the Effigy Mounds. Effigy Mounds National Monument preserves more than 200 prehistoric Native American mounds, many shaped like bears and birds, on bluffs above the Mississippi River.
9. Take in the view from Pikes Peak State Park near McGregor. This Iowa overlook sits on a 500-foot bluff above the Mississippi, with a wide view of the river valley and the point where the Wisconsin River joins it.
10. Hike Ledges State Park near Boone. One of Iowa's oldest state parks, with sandstone canyon walls, shallow stream crossings on the park road, and trails through the Des Moines River valley.
Unique and Quirky Iowa Icons
11. See the world's largest truck stop in Walcott. The Iowa 80 Truckstop opened in 1964 and covers about 225 acres. It includes a trucking museum, a food court, and a chrome shop.
12. Visit the Grotto of the Redemption in West Bend. A religious shrine built from precious stones, gems, and minerals, started in 1912 by Father Paul Dobberstein and worked on for decades. It is one of the largest grottos in the world.
13. Drive down Snake Alley in Burlington. Built in 1894, this brick street drops through five switchback turns in a single block. Ripley's Believe It or Not has called it the crookedest street in the world.
14. Ride or walk the High Trestle Trail near Madrid. A former rail corridor turned bike trail, anchored by a half-mile bridge over the Des Moines River valley. Its blue steel framework is lit at night.
15. Tour the towns and bluffs of the Driftless region. The unglaciated northeast corner of Iowa has deep valleys and trout streams, with towns like Decorah and breweries including Toppling Goliath.
Start Crossing Them Off
That is 15, and it is a starting point rather than a full list. Whether you are after baseball history, river bluffs, or fair food, Iowa has more to it than the cornfield jokes suggest.
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