Counting our loop diversions, we had traveled only 130 miles. The entire Byway Spine is about 200 miles long, from north of Sioux City, Iowa, to near St. There were nothing but small towns along the route, and long stretches of just us, the bike, the road and emerald-green hills. This part of the Byway is like a step back in time. This display in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum shows how restorers love to find their projects! Just birds serenading each other and leaves whispering in the wind. No sounds of traffic, no planes coming in for a landing.
We picked out farmsteads, distant roads and a ribbon of the Missouri River. A powerful telescope perches on the top deck-no quarters required. It offers a 360-degree view of the Loess Hills and Missouri River Valley. Besides the interpretive center, there is a 45-foot observation tower. The Hitchcock Nature Center was the best stop of the day. Still heading south, we joined the Hitchcock Loop hoping for hard surfaces. Along the way, erosion exposes the fragile nature of loess. It’s scenic and tranquil, but it isn’t wild prairie. What a sight this must have been when it was blanketed with prairie grass and flowers. Only three miles from Winterset we find the Holliwell Bridge, one of several covered bridges in the area.Ĭruising the hills around gentle curves, we met only an occasional vehicle.
It looked like gravel farther on, so we backtracked to the Byway Spine. After hiking to the second of three points, we decided the Missouri River Valley was breathtaking enough from there, pun intended. The guidebook says, “Hike up a hill through prairie grasses for better views…” The view seemed good from the parking lot, but then we noticed the sliver of a path waaaay up that steep, prairie grass-covered hill. It is available online at .įollowing the soothing, flat surface of the Byway Spine, we hopped off at the Fountainbleu Loop and took a meandering asphalt road for nine miles to the Murray Hill Scenic Overlook. From this point on, the only way to find the route on obscure county roads is by using the printable maps found in the byway guidebook. We headed northwest to Castana where we joined the Loess Hills National Scenic Byway. In the morning, strong winds swept across the Great Plains, a common occurrence. Highway 71, then west on State Route 44 to Harlan where we stopped for the night. Unique to this bridge are the end-to-end beams that form an arch across the entire length of each inner wall.īack again on Highway 92, the sky was cloudless, the wind light and the temperature ideal. Built of 14-inch-wide timbers, it is 122 feet long and crosses the Middle River. A short walk took us onto the bright red Holliwell Bridge, an impressive wooden structure. We rode three miles outside of town on hard-packed gravel, raising a plume of dust behind. Winterset is known as John Wayne’s boyhood home, and for its covered bridges. There are double-door entries on all four sides and a clock on each face of the large cupola on top-a study in symmetry. Our next break was Winterset, where its town square is occupied by the Madison County Courthouse. Of Des Moines and not far off Interstate 80. Winterset, Iowa, is about 30 miles southwest