Guides
7 Iowa roadside attractions with official historical markers worth a detour
Iowa roadside attractions historical markers: seven marked stops from Sioux City to Dubuque, with drive times, marker details and what to cut first.
What to take away
- Seven Iowa stops with official markers run west to east from Sioux City to Dubuque.
- Two days covers the line at roughly 500 miles of driving.
- Legs between stops run from 45 minutes to about 2 hours 15 minutes.
- Albert the Bull in Audubon is the stop to cut when the clock slips.
- Late spring and early fall give the clearest air over the Loess Hills.
What this route assumes
This plan assumes a car, two days and a start in Sioux City. A one-way rental works if you fly in and out of different airports. Roughly 500 miles separates the ends, mostly on I-29, US-30, US-20 and US-52. No stop here takes a booking, and only the Fenelon Place Elevator closes for winter, running about April through November.
Route at a glance
- 2days needed
- 500miles end to end
- 7marked stops
- 1stop closed in winter
The first day, hour by hour
Day one covers the Missouri River valley, the Loess Hills and the western third of Iowa, ending in Des Moines. Four of the seven marked stops fall on this leg. The order below leaves slack for a slow morning, using the buffers from a worked two-day highway itinerary.
Day one hour by hour
- 800 a.m. Sergeant Floyd Monument, Sioux City
- 915 a.m. Loess Hills byway overlooks near Onawa
- 1100 a.m. Hitchcock House near Lewis
- 145 p.m. Albert the Bull, Audubon
- 315 p.m. Des Moines, day ends
The Floyd obelisk stands on a bluff above the Missouri River and marks the grave of the only member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition to die on the journey. Base panels cover the 1804 burial.
The Loess Hills are wind-deposited silt, and these ridges rank among the deepest deposits anywhere. The route carries a national designation, and the Federal Highway Administration lists it in its National Scenic Byways Program. Cross-section drawings on the marker explain how the silt held.
The Hitchcock House is a stone farmhouse from the 1850s, and its National Historic Landmark plaque names it as a stop on the Underground Railroad. Visitors remember the hidden crawlspace beneath the kitchen floor.
Albert the Bull went up in 1964, stands about 30 feet tall and carries a marker crediting the county's cattle feeders. It is a 15-minute stop on a town lawn. Photographers who want more than a snapshot of it should read shooting roadside attractions before the trip.
The second day
Day two runs from Des Moines north and east to Dubuque, close to 6 hours of driving across three marked stops. Brown guide signs bring you in off the highway, a color the federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices reserves for cultural and recreational destinations.
- Little Brown Church in the Vale, Nashua. 2 hours 15 minutes from Des Moines. The 1864 building gave its name to the hymn The Church in the Wildwood, and a marker outside tells how the songwriter chose the spot. Allow 30 minutes.
- Effigy Mounds National Monument, Harpers Ferry. 2 hours from Nashua. More than 200 mounds sit on the bluffs above the Mississippi, with National Park Service waysides at the trailheads. Allow 1 hour 30 minutes.
- Fenelon Place Elevator, Dubuque. 1 hour 40 minutes from Harpers Ferry. The cable car climbs the bluff above downtown, and a plaque covers the 1882 fire behind it. Allow 30 minutes.
Book the overnight on the north side of Des Moines, close to I-35, because day two starts north. Where you sleep matters more than most drivers expect on a route this long.
What to cut when time is short
Cut Albert the Bull first. The statue is 15 minutes of standing on a lawn, and Audubon holds nothing else on the route. Dropping it returns about 55 minutes once you count the drive off US-30. Anyone building a longer list of marked sites can start with the state's history and tourism pages.
With one day instead of two, run day one and turn back at Des Moines. Effigy Mounds alone takes an hour and a half on foot, so the second day does not squeeze into an evening.
Getting between the stops
| Leg | Typical drive time | What slows you down |
|---|---|---|
| Sioux City to Onawa overlooks | 45 minutes | Gravel roads |
| Onawa to Hitchcock House | 1 hour 30 minutes | Grain trucks |
| Hitchcock House to Audubon | 40 minutes | Two-lane, no passing |
| Audubon to Des Moines | 1 hour 20 minutes | US-6 traffic |
| Des Moines to Nashua | 2 hours 15 minutes | I-35, then US-20 |
| Nashua to Harpers Ferry | 2 hours | Winding US-18 |
| Harpers Ferry to Dubuque | 1 hour 40 minutes | River fog, curves |
At Effigy Mounds the front desk is the one staffed visitor center on the route with a full byway map on the wall. Everywhere else you are reading plaques in a ditch, so keep the paper state map in reach.
