Iowa

★ – Very Interested
☆ – Visited

Activities

• Freedom Rocks –  Giant boulders painted to honor the local veterans in each county. There is now a Freedom Rock in every one of Iowa’s 99 counties, including the 100th in Altoona, IA.

Federal Parks

• Effigy Mounds National Monument, Harpers Ferry – preserves more than 200 prehistoric mounds built by pre-ColumbianMound Builder cultures, mostly in the first millennium CE, during the later part of the Woodland period of pre-Columbian North America. Numerous effigy mounds are shaped like animals, including bears and birds.
• Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, West Branch – Visitor Center, Presidential Library,

State Parks

State-Managed

Park name	Nearby city	Body of Water
			Description
Ambrose A. Call State Park	Algona	Des Moines River	Features heavily wooded hills and a reconstructed log cabin on the site of the first cabin in Kossuth County, built in 1854 by settler Ambrose A. Call.
Backbone State Park	Strawberry Point	Maquoketa River, Backbone Lake	Features a rock ridge up to 80 feet (24 m) high, a recreational reservoir, and a museum on the Civilian Conservation Corps in Iowa.
Badger Creek State Recreation Area	Van Meter	Badger Creek Lake	Features a 276-acre (112 ha) fishing lake outside Des Moines.
Banner Lakes at Summerset State Park	Indianola	Banner Lakes	Provides fishing and mountain biking opportunities on the site of a rehabilitated open-pit coal mine.
Beed’s Lake State Park	Hampton	Beed’s Lake	Surrounds a 99-acre (40 ha) reservoir crossed by a 170-foot (52 m) causeway built by the Civilian Conservation Corps.
Bellevue State Park	Bellevue	Mississippi River	Comprises two units on high river bluffs, with a nature center and butterfly garden.
Big Creek State Park	Polk City	Big Creek Lake	Surrounds an 866-acre (350 ha) recreational reservoir originally created as a flood control project.
Black Hawk State Park	Lake View	Black Hawk Lake	Comprises shoreline on the southernmost glacial lake in Iowa.
Cedar Rock State Park	Quasqueton	Wapsipinicon River	Offers tours of a Frank Lloyd Wright house built in 1950 in his Usonian style.
Clear Lake State Park	Clear Lake	Clear Lake	Abuts the south shore of 3,643-acre  Clear Lake.
Dolliver Memorial State Park	Lehigh	Des Moines River	Showcases tall river bluffs and narrow ravines.
Elinor Bedell State Park	Spirit Lake	East Okoboji Lake	Provides public access to one of the Iowa Great Lakes.
Elk Rock State Park	Knoxville	Lake Red Rock	Comprises two parcels on Iowa’s largest body of water.
☆ Fairport State Recreation Area	Muscatine	Mississippi River
Fort Atkinson State Preserve	Fort Atkinson	None	Interprets the remains of a U.S. Army frontier fort manned from 1840–1849 to monitor the resettled Ho-Chunk tribe.
Fort Defiance State Park	Estherville	None	Commemorates the site of a fort built to protect the Iowa border during the Dakota War of 1862.
Geode State Park	Danville	Skunk River, Lake Geode	Features a 187-acre recreational reservoir and a display of geodes, the Iowa state rock.
George Wyth Memorial State Park	Waterloo	Cedar River and several lakes	Protects a natural area within the Waterloo – Cedar Falls metropolitan area.
Green Valley State Park	Creston	Green Valley Lake	Surrounds a 390-acre recreational reservoir.
Gull Point State Park	Milford	West Okoboji Lake	Protects a natural area on one of the Iowa Great Lakes.
Honey Creek State Park	Moravia	Rathbun Lake	Provides outdoor recreation opportunities on the north shore of 11,000-acre (4,500 ha) Rathbun Lake.
Honey Creek Resort State Park	Moravia	Rathbun Lake	Mixes outdoor recreation with higher-end amenities such as a lodge, luxury cabins, golf course, and indoor water park.
Lacey-Keosauqua State Park	Keosauqua	Des Moines River	Protects Indian mounds and a 30-acre lake on a bend of the Des Moines River.
Lake Ahquabi State Park	Indianola	Lake Ahquabi	Surrounds a 115-acre recreational reservoir named “resting place” in the Fox language.
Lake Anita State Park	Anita	Lake Anita	Surrounds a 171-acre recreational reservoir.
Lake Darling State Park	Brighton	Lake Darling	Honors Ding Darling, two-time Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning winner and early conservationist, with a 171-acre recreational reservoir.
Lake Keomah State Park	Oskaloosa	Lake Keomah	Surrounds an 83-acre recreational reservoir.
Lake Macbride State Park	Solon	Lake Macbride, Coralville Lake	Borders an 812-acre recreational reservoir.
☆ Lake Manawa State Park	Council Bluffs	Lake Manawa	Provides boating opportunities in the Omaha – Council Bluffs metropolitan area on a 772-acre lake created by the Missouri River changing course after the Great Flood of 1881.
Lake of Three Fires State Park	Bedford	Lake of Three Fires	Surrounds an 85-acre recreational reservoir named for a Council of Three Fires meeting once held there by three Native American tribes.
Lake Wapello State Park	Drakesville	Lake Wapello	Surrounds a 289-acre recreational reservoir.
Ledges State Park	Boone	Des Moines River, Pea’s Creek	Showcases a 100-foot deep sandstone gorge with concretions jutting from its side like ledges.
Lewis and Clark State Park	Onawa	Blue Lake	Commemorates the site where the Lewis and Clark Expedition camped on August 10, 1804; with a replica of their keelboat on a 220-acre oxbow lake.
Lower Gar State Recreation Area	Arnolds Park	Lower Gar Lake	Provides public access to one of the Iowa Great Lakes.
Maquoketa Caves State Park	Maquoketa	Raccoon Creek	Preserves 13 caves, some developed with lighting and walkways and others in a natural state.
Marble Beach State Recreation Area	Orleans	Spirit Lake	Provides the largest campground in the Iowa Great Lakes region.
McIntosh Woods State Park	Ventura	Clear Lake	Provides the primary boating access to 3,643-acre Clear Lake.
Mines of Spain State Recreation Area and E. B. Lyons Nature Center	Dubuque	Mississippi River	Features a monument to Julien Dubuque, the first European settler in Iowa, and recipient of a 1796 land and mining grant from then-owner the Governor of Spain.
Mini-Wakan State Park	Spirit Lake	Spirit Lake	Lies on the north shore of the state’s largest natural lake, in the Iowa Great Lakes region.
Nine Eagles State Park	Davis City	Nine Eagles Lake	Features a 64-acre (26 ha) recreational reservoir and surrounding woods.
Okamanpedan State Park	Dolliver	Okamanpeedan Lake	Provides fishing and boating access on the south shore of a lake on the Iowa – Minnesota border.
Palisades-Kepler State Park	Mt. Vernon	Cedar River	Features dramatic river bluffs and deep ravines on the site of an early 20th Century resort.
Pikes Peak State Park	McGregor	Mississippi River	Features a 500-foot (150 m) river bluff named by Zebulon Pike several years before documenting Pikes Peak in Colorado.
Pikes Point State Park	Spirit Lake	West Okoboji Lake	Offers one of the most popular swimming beaches in the Iowa Great Lakes region.
Pilot Knob State Park	Forest City	Pilot Knob Lake, Dead Man’s Lake	Features an observation tower built by the Civilian Conservation Corps on Iowa’s second-tallest point, and the state’s only sphagnum bog.
Pine Lake State Park	Eldora	Iowa River, Upper and Lower Pine Lakes	Encompasses two lakes surrounded by 250-year-old eastern white pines.
Pleasant Creek State Recreation Area	Palo	Pleasant Creek Lake	Surrounds a 410-acre (170 ha) recreational reservoir located between the cities of Cedar Rapids and Waterloo.
Prairie Rose State Park	Harlan	Prairie Rose Lake	Surrounds a 218-acre (88 ha) recreational reservoir.
Preparation Canyon State Park	Moorhead	None	Preserves a section of the Loess Hills on the site of a town founded in 1853 by a Mormon splinter group led by Charles B. Thompson.
Red Haw State Park	Chariton	Red Haw Lake	Surrounds a 72-acre recreational reservoir.
Rice Lake State Park	Lake Mills	Rice Lake	Abuts a 1,200-acre lake.
Rock Creek State Park	Kellogg	Rock Creek Lake	Surrounds a 602-acre recreational reservoir.
Springbrook State Park	Yale	Middle Raccoon River	Features a conservation education center, a rental retreat, a 17-acre lake, and public hunting areas.
Stone State Park	Sioux City	Big Sioux River	Preserves a natural section of the Loess Hills.
Templar State Recreation Area	Spirit Lake	Spirit Lake	Provides a sheltered lagoon for launching boats on the Iowa Great Lakes.
Trapper’s Bay State Park	Lake Park	Silver Lake	Offers additional public recreation space on the periphery of the Iowa Great Lakes region.
Twin Lakes State Park	Rockwell City	North Twin Lakes	Comprises two day-use areas on a 453-acre natural lake.
Union Grove State Park	Gladbrook	Union Grove Lake	Surrounds a 110-acre recreational reservoir.
Viking Lake State Park	Stanton	Viking Lake	Preserves natural areas surrounding a 110-acre recreational reservoir.
Volga River State Recreation Area	Fayette	Volga River, Frog Hollow Lake	Provides wildlife habitat and extensive recreation options along a waterway featuring limestone bluffs and old steel bridges.
☆ Walnut Woods State Park	West Des Moines	Raccoon River	Preserves a bottomland hardwood forest within the Des Moines metropolitan area featuring the largest stand of black walnut trees in North America.
Wapsipinicon State Park	Anamosa	Wapsipinicon River, Dutch Creek	Features rocky cave- and crevice-ridden bluffs, a nine-hole golf course, and an 1877 steel bridge that is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Waubonsie State Park	Sidney	Lake Virginia	Showcases unique Loess Hills topography, with rental facilities restored from a former Girl Scout camp.
Wildcat Den State Park	Muscatine	Pine Creek	Features 75-foot cliffs, rock formations, and several historic structures, including an 1848 gristmill that is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Wilson Island State Recreation Area	Missouri Valley	Missouri River	Showcases a bottomland hardwood forest on a former sandbar island named after former governor George A. Wilson.

County-Managed

	Nearby City	Body of Water	Description
Bobwhite State Park	Allerton
Cold Springs State Park	Lewis
Crystal Lake State Park	Crystal Lake
Eagle Lake State Park	Britt
Echo Valley State Park	West Union
Frank A. Gotch State Park	Dakota City
Heery Woods State Park	Clarksville
Kearny State Park	Emmetsburg
Lake Cornelia State Park	Cornelia
Lake Icaria State Park	Corning
Margo Frankel State Park	Saylorville
Mill Creek State Park	Paullina
Oak Grove State Park	Hawarden
Oakland Mills State Park	Oakland Mills
Pammel State Park	Winterset
Sharon Bluffs State Park	Centerville
Spring Lake State Park	Grand Junction
Swan Lake State Park	Carroll
Three Mile Lake State Park	Creston

Attractions

East

• Ackley
  • Large Ice Cream Cone – Sky Kone is a large ice cream cone stand on the west end of Main Street in Ackley.  407 Main St.
  • Large Longhorn Bull – Raging Thunder the Bull – about 27 feet long and 15 feet tall, salvaged by a meat company from another business. (On the north side of town, on the north side of IA-57/Sherman Ave.)
• Albia
  • Welcome Home Soldier Monument – Eight acres of statues including a replica Iwo Jima Monument, hundreds of flags, and a wall engraved with thousands of names.  (6451 US-34)
  • Monroe County 4-H & FFA Fair – late-July
• ☆ Amana Colonies
  • Notes:
    • Download the Amana Colonies Tour AppNothing opens until 10am and everything closes at 5PMTotal of seven towns
  • Amana
    • Millstream Brau Haus – German Beer Hall feel and some sports viewing
    • The Old Creamery Theater – high-quality, live professional theater.
    • ☆ Amana Heritage Society Museum
  • High Amana
    • ☆ General Store. Looking just as it did in 1918. The Christmas room at the Amana general store should not be missed!
  • Middle Amana
    • The only surviving intact communal kitchen.
  • South Amana
    • Henry Moore’s Mini-Americana Barn Museum – Henry Moore was a retired farmer who built over 200 tiny farm buildings, at a scale of 1 inch to 1 foot.
  • Homestead
    • Amana Community Church Museum
• Allison
  • Butler County Fair – June
• Belle Plaine
  • Belle Plaine Area Museum – local history and the Lincoln Highway.
• Bentonsport
  • Rose Garden – Stroll through our beautiful Rose Garden set within the historic mill foundation. The garden features heritage roses, perennials and a water garden stocked with Koi fish. This garden is completely taken care of by volunteers.
  • Indian Artifact Museum – This unique museum contains over 5,000 Indian artifacts and arrowheads found in the Tri-County area. Tony Sanders has cut and designed the frames for the artifacts using various kinds of wood. Open most weekends.
  • The Stone House, A Community Meeting Place – The restored Stone House was built in the 1850s and its restoration was completed in May 2014. 
  • Historic Iron Truss Bridge – The bridge was built in 1883 for horse and buggy use and is now used as a footbridge. It is one of the oldest and longest bridges across the Des Moines River.
• Bloomfield
  • Mars Hill Church – The oldest Log Cabin Church west of the Mississippi River.  The church was almost entirely rebuilt in 2008 after vandals torched it in 2006. According to local lore, a mother had her baby baptized at the church, then threw it off Cry Baby Bridge, where its wails can still be heard. UFOs were reported nearby in 2012-2013.
  • Davis County Fair – July
• Brandon
  • Iowa’s Largest Frying Pan
• Burlington
  • Snake Alley – A Very Crooked Street
• Cedar Falls
  • Ice House Museum – The only ice harvesting museum in the U.S. in an original ice house, built in 1921. The round structure contains saws and other tools that were once used to cut ice from the adjacent Cedar River.
• Cedar Rapids
  • ☆The National Czech & Slovak Museum and Library
  • ☆ Czech Village
  • African American Museum of Iowa – Small museum with full-size recreations of a slave ship hold, an Underground Railroad hideout, and a segregated lunch counter.
  • The Brucemore – an estate and mansion. Formal English gardens, a children’s garden, and a night garden.
  • ☆ Our Lady of Sorrows Grotto – on the campus of Mount Mercy College. The grotto was built by William Lightner from 1929-1941. Over 1,200 tons of stones were used from around the world. The grotto includes a bridge surrounded by a lagoon, a ten-column structure representing the Ten Commandments, and a monumental central shrine with mosaics of the seven sorrows of the Virgin Mary. The lagoon was drained in 1970. 
  • Scrap Metal Plow Horse – Statue of a plow horse made out of welded-together hoe heads, shovels, hand tools, machinery parts, chains and gears, and horseshoes. At entrance to Hughes Park.
• Centerville
  • Appanoose County Fair – July
• Central City
  • Linn County Fair – late-June
• Charles City
  • Floyd County Fair – July
• Chariton
  • Lucas County Fair – late-July
• Clear Lake
  • ☆ Plane Crash Site of Buddy Holly
  • Ice Cream Cone Building – A former Twistee Treat building, built to resemble a softee ice cream cone. South Shore Sweet Spot, 5269 S. Shore Drive
  • Pyramid House – Big vacation lake house built to look like a gold pyramid. 1102 N. Shore Drive
  • Surf Ballroom – Last place that Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper performed. Preserved as it looked in 1959. See the Big Bopper’s briefcase of doom, and the pay phone where Buddy and Ritchie made their last phone calls.
  • Lady of the Lake riverboat cruise – https://www.cruiseclearlake.com/
• Clinton
  • Eagle Point Park – a 200 acre park set atop bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River at the widest part of the river. Attractions include a 1937 Stone Tower, Prairie Pastures Dog Park, a disc golf course, Eagle Point Lodge, 2 overlooks, walking path and winding road.
  • The Sawmill Museum – Clinton was once the Lumber Capital of the World. The museum has animatronics, a working sawmill, a log raft simulator, and lots of weird wood pieces and art.
• Colfax
  • Jasper County Fair – mid-July
• Colo
  • Niland’s Cafe and Colo Motel – Niland’s Cafe stands at the corner of Lincoln Way and Jefferson Highway. Lincoln is the old Lincoln Highway, the first east-west transcontinental road running from Times Square, NY, to San Francisco, CA. Jefferson was the first north-south transcontinental road running from Winnipeg, Ontario, to New Orleans, LA.  Today the cafe, motel, and original service station from a bygone era have been restored and are open to the public and weary travelers. The service station is open as a museum only.
• Columbus Junction
  • Monkey Run Park – 14-foot-high, full-color cattails, made of welded steel
  • Lovers Leap Swinging Bridge – Originally built in 1886, the 262-foot-long swinging bridge
  • Louisa County Fair – late-July
• Coon Rapids
  • Carroll County Fair – July
• Corydon
  • Wayne County Fair – late-July
• Cresco
  • Howard County – Mighty Howard County Fair – late-June
• Davenport
  • Vander Veer Botanical Park
  • Abe Lincoln Saves a Bridge – Sculpture features a larger-than-life beardless 1856 Abe Lincoln pondering a railroad bridge. He helped save the bridge, and all subsequent bridges across the Mississippi River, or at least that’s what this statue suggests. (On the riverfront, in a small park at the intersection of Iowa and E)
  • Giant Fiberglass Bull – Big, beefy bull is an appropriate ambassador at the entrance to the local fairgrounds. (2815 W. Locust St.)
  • Great Mississippi Valley Fair (Scott County) – early-August
• Decorah
  • Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum – 33,000 artifacts in 12 buildings. The most extensive collection of Norwegian-American artifacts in the world.
  • Dunnings Springs Park – Wooded park with a 200-ft. waterfall, extensive walking trails & spots for picnicking.
  • Decorah Ice Cave – The cave is the size of a closet and about as attractive. You can walk in about 100 ft. (Ice Cave Rd)
  • Viking with a Pie – A glum-looking Viking with a large horned helmet holds a piece of pie on a plate. He stands outside, next to Family Table Restaurant.
  • Trout Run Trail – a 17-mile challenging and scenic bike path in and around Decorah.
  • Decorah Fish Hatchery
  • Winneshiek County Fair – mid-July
• De Witt
  • Clinton County Fair – July
• Donnellson
  • Lee County Fair – early-July
• Dyersville
  • Field of Dreams Movie Site, (28995 Lansing Rd)
  • A mural on the outside of a downtown building shows ghost players walking out of the cornfield. (101 2nd St.)
  • National Farm Toy Museum – Thousands of farm toys, including silos, cows, barns and tractors. (1110 16th Ave.)
• Dubuque
  • Crystal Lake Cave – Limestone cave open to the public tours since 1932, described as moist, cold, fun. Iowa’s longest living show cavern.
  • Dubuque Arboretum and Botanical Gardens
  • ☆ Dubuque Shot Tower – Standing over 120 feet high, the Shot Tower is where early bullets were made by pouring lead from the top and letting gravity and surface tension do the rest.
  • ☆ Eagle Point Park is a lovely area that’s situated on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River.
  • Fenelon Place Elevator – An incline railway that runs 296 feet up and down a hill. Built as a cable car in 1882.  
  • ☆ Holy Family Grotto – 1929 grotto located in the Sisters of St Francis convent.
  • ☆ Lock & Dam #11
  • Mines of Spain Recreation Area – 1437 acres of beautiful wooded and prairie land and includes Julien Dubuque’s Monument at a point just above where Catfish Creek meets the Mississippi. It features the E.B. Lyons Interpretive Center which serves as the Visitor Center and the Park Office. 
  • ★ National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium,
  • Events
    • Dubuque County Fair – July
• Eldon
  • American Gothic House – The house made famous as a background for a Grant Wood painting is now a popular photo-op.  Visitor Center next door lends pitch forks and costumes for pictures.
  • Wapello County Regional Fair – mid-June
• Eldora
  • Hardin County Fair – mid-July
• Fairfield
  • Jefferson County – Greater Jefferson – mid-June
• Fredericksburg
  • Hawkeye Buffalo Ranch – Sit in a cart and get pulled by a tractor out into a buffalo herd, where you can feed them by hand. At the end of the tour, you can buy buffalo meat.
• Fredonia
  • Drive A 1914 Road Built by Convicts – This was one of the first concrete roads built outside of a city in the entire U.S. The 16-foot-wide road looks tiny today, but it was a major highway in 1914. The convicts were from a prison in Anamosa, and were used because building a road through the sandy soil was considered too difficult for local, free labor. (155th St. Left follows the Concrete Road a short distance to the river; right follows the Concrete Road about 1.5 miles until it ends at P Ave.)
• Froelich
  • Froelich Museum – John Froelich invented the first gasoline-powered tractor to go in reverse in 1892. See a replica in his hometown village, once known as “Tractor Town USA.” No one lives there now. Historical marker, old buildings, train cars, farm stuff.
• Garnavillo
  • Clayton County Fair – early-August
• Gladbrook
  • Matchstick Marvels Museum – Pat Acton builds impressively-detailed, giant models of buildings, spaceships, whatever, out of hundreds of thousands of wooden matchsticks.
  • Tama County Fair – mid-July
• Grinnell
  • Poweshiek County Fair – mid-July
• Grundy Center
  • Grundy County Fair – July
• Hampton
  • Franklin County Fair
• Harpers Ferry / Marquette
  • ☆ Effigy Mounds National Monument
  • Roller Coaster Road
  • Maiden Voyage Mississippi River Boat Tours – nearby in Marquette, IA
• Honey Creek
  • Loveland Overlook Tower
• Independence
  • Cedar Rock State Park is the home to the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Lowell and Agnes Walter Estate.
  • Buchanan County Fair – July
• Indianola
  • National Balloon Museum – Small museum has no actual balloons on site. Mostly pins, pictures and memorabilia.  Small gift shop. Also a short film on the history of ballooning.
  • Events
    • National Balloon Classic – late-July
    • Warren County Fair – late-July
• Iowa City
  • Old Capitol Museum (Free) – It was once the main government building for the state of Iowa, and it now stands as the most prominent landmark at the center of the University of Iowa’s campus. The building was depicted on the 1946 Iowa Centennial commemorative half dollar.
  • ☆ Devonian Fossil Gorge – exposed small fossils in a washed-out spillway from the ancient remains of an ocean floor from 375 million years ago.
  • ☆ Oakland Cemetery – home to the legendary monument called the Black Angel. https://www.iowa-city.org/weblink/0/doc/1481292/Electronic.aspx
  • Misc Quirky Items
    • ☆ World’s Largest Wooden Nickle – 16 feet across. The World’s Largest Wooden Nickel is mounted between two telephone poles, facing the road, in a farm field. Built in 2006 as a local political protest by Jim Glasgow, who stills maintains it. (3246 Iowa River Corridor Trl.)
    • ☆ Man on a Bench – a 20-foot-tall, 110-ton limestone sculpture of a fat man sitting on a bench on a high hillside along the road.
    • ☆ Giant Metal Corn Cob – 10-foot metal corn cob sculpture outside an agribusiness. (2144 Old Hwy 218 S.)
    • Peter Toth Big Indian Head – Whispering Giant #68. This statue replaces the original statue #28 and it was dedicated in 1999. In a small park overlooking the Iowa River on Foster Boulevard about 120 yards north of Washington Avenue.
  • Johnson County Fair – late-July
• Kellogg
  • Kellogg Historical Museum – Museum is spread across seven buildings.  The two-story museum building filled with items from Kellogg’s past, including a preserved 1950s rumpus pad called the “Whoopy Room.”
• Keokuk
  • Veteran’s Memorial,
  • Miller House Museum
  • George M. Verity River Museum – a 1927 stern paddle boat.
  • Keokuk-Hamilton Bridge
• Keosauqua
  • Van Buren County Fair – mid-July
• Knoxville
  • National Sprint Car Hall of Fame. This museum preserves the history of sprint car racing and achievers. The Knoxville Nationals, held in August, draws thousands of racing fans to Knoxville each year.
  • Marion County Fair – mid-July
• Le Clair
  • Buffalo Bill Museum
  • Maquoketa Caves State Park – featuring more caves than any other Iowa state park, a trail system linking the caves, limestone formations, and rugged bluffs.
  • Tug fest – annual tug of war festival and contest. This bizarre festival competition pits two towns on opposite banks of the Mississippi River against each other in an annual tug-of-war. A 2,700 ft. long rope — 750 lbs. when dry — is strung across the river between LeClaire, Iowa and Port Byron, Illinois.
  • Riverboat Twilight Mississippi River Cruises
• Leon
  • Decatur County 4-H & FFA Fair – July
• Lynnville
  • L.J. Maasdam’s Wheel Art – a towering sculpture of rusty wagon wheels, out in the middle of nowhere.
• Maquoketa 
  • Jackson County Historical Society Museum – local historical artifacts including a 2-butted lamb and 2-headed calf.
  • Jackson County Fair – late-July
• Manchester
  • Delaware County Fair – July
• Marion
  • Corn Sculpture in Iowa Corn Field – Five ten-foot-tall metal corn plants stand in the middle of Iowa farmland, in a roundabout with no cross streets. Unofficially nicknamed “Cornhenge.”
• Marquette
  • ☆ Pinky the Elephant – Large pink elephant in a top hat.  Next to Lady Luck Casino.
• Marshalltown
  • Big Treehouse – 12-level treehouse. Requires guided tour
  • Marshall County – Central Iowa Fair – mid-July
• Mason City
  • ☆ Music Man Square – An exact duplicate of the town square from the movie “The Music Man” — but indoors. Admission includes museum and Meredith Willson Boyhood Home tour. Outside there is a statue of the Music Man in parade pose. (308 S Pennsylvania Ave) https://themusicmansquare.org/
  • Historic Park Inn Hotel – Frank Lloyd Wright inspired building tour and brunch
  • ☆ Stockman House Museum – the only Frank Lloyd Wright Prairie Style House open to the public in Iowa. Private tours are offered on a daily basis by reservation.
  • Cerro Gordo County – North Iowa Fair – July
  • Quirky
    • Pink Can Poodle – A large pink poodle is made out of metal drums, barrels, and pipes in front of a dog grooming business, Mary Kay’s Grooming Station. It’s been there since at least 2013
    • Rancho Deluxe Z – Folk Artist Max Weaver has turned a vacant lot into a colorful garden-like junk art retreat..
• Maharishi Vedic City
  • a town built on the ancient Hindu principles of Veda 
• Marengo
  • Iowa County Fair – mid-July
• McGregor
  • Spook Cave & Campground – Spook Cave is a flooded cave located about seven miles west of McGregor in rural Clayton County, Iowa. It is privately owned and operated as a tourist attraction offering escorted boat rides into the cave.
  • ☆ Pikes Peak State Park – High overlooks over the Mississippi River
• Missouri Valley
  • Harrison County Historical Village – 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Monday thru Saturday
  • Loess Hills Lavender Farm – 2-acre lavender farm with gift shop, restaurant, and lavender ice cream.
  • Desoto National Wildlife Refuge – Visitor Center and Museum with shipwreck artifacts.
  • Loess Hills Byway
  • Penny’s Diner – 1950’s style diner.
  • JC’s Dairy Den –
• Monticello
  • The Great Jones County Fair – late-July
• Mount Pleasant
  • Henry County Fair – mid-July
• Muscatine
  • National Pearl Button Museum
  • Lock & Dam No. 16 Recreation Area
• Mount Vernon
  • ☆ American Gothic Barn – a large replica of the Grant Wood “American Gothic” painted on a barn.
• Nashua
  • Chickasaw County – Big Four Fair – August
• Nevada
  • Story County Youth Fair – mid-July

• Newton
  • Quirky
    • Big Aluminum Bugs – Several custom-made supersized aluminum insects stand on the front lawn of an otherwise normal-looking house.  (1705 N. 23rd Ave. W., Private Property, visible from street)
    • Joy, the Movie Theater Pig – Capitol II Theatre is home to its own, real, live pig named Joy. She plays a tiny piano with her nose. And she wears dresses.
    • Maytag Repairman Statue – In Maytag Park, there is a bronze statue of the unneeded TV commercial Maytag Repairman, napping on a park bench. Newton was the home of the Maytag factory.
• Northwood
  • Worth County Fair – mid-June
• Osage
  • Mitchell County Fair – early-August
• Osceola
  • Seminole Chief Osceola Statue – 15 ft wood statue of Seminole Indian leader carved in 1993. (East of I-35 on US Hwy 34 and S. Ridge Rd just past the Pizza Hut on the south side.)
  • Clarke County 4-H Fair – July
• Oskaloosa
  • Nelson Pioneer Farm and Museum – The site now hosts 15 historic buildings, 2 large barns to house and display an expansive agricultural collection, a traditional museum building with genealogy library, nature trail, and rental venue. Our exhibits and collections share the story of Mahaska County from its first inhabitants to the present. Our historic buildings date from the 1840s to the 1970s.  It also has the Graves of Two Civil War Mules.
  • Mahaska County – Southern Iowa Fair – mid-July
• Pella
  • Vermeer Windmill – Built in Holland and shipped over to the US in 2002, the 124+-ft. windmill is a focal point for a tulip-happy town with Dutch settler ancestry.
  • Scholte House Museum & Gardens – Built-in 1848 by Hendrik Peter Scholte, this sprawling home features a house museum.
  • Pella Historical Village – 22-building complex, covering Pella’s history beginning in the 1840s.
  • ☆ Downtown Pella
• Postville
  • Allamakee County – Big Four Fair – July
• Riverside
  • ☆ Future birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk – empty lot with a sign proclaiming that it is the future birthplace of Captain Kirk. (60 Greene St.)
  • Star Trek Voyage Home Museum – Out in the parking lot sits the star of the Trek Fest parade, a trailer-mounted “USS Riverside,” which bears a remarkable (but not legally liable) resemblance to the USS Enterprise.
  • ☆ Railroad Park – has a bronze statue of Captain Kirk. Across from Star Trek Museum.
• Ryan
  • Ryan Veterans Living Memorial – Small town honors its military veterans with a compact compendium of many wars — a Nam Cobra attack helicopter, an Iwo Jima flag-raising monument, and even a replica field grave with a helmet balanced on a rifle stuck in the ground. (NW corner of Main St. and Franklin St.)
• Sigourney
  • Keokuk County – Keokuk County Expo – mid-July
• Spillville
  • Bily Clocks Museum – The museum contains small and large clocks that were made by hand from the years 1913 to 1958.
• St. Ansgar
  • Albino Deer – In the middle of downtown St. Ansgar is a gazebo housing the mounted Albino deer that roamed the area in the 1980s. Along with the deer are pictures and newspaper clippings telling the story of the deer’s life. (S. Mitchell St. & 4th)
• Strawberry Point
  • Wilder Museum – Small town museum with heirloom doll collection (900+), carved farm miniatures, and a collection of items of local interest.
  • World’s Largest Strawberry – (111 Commercial St.)
• Swedesburg
  • Swedish Heritage Museum – The Swedish American Museum preserves and celebrates this story and its descendants. Three buildings house artifacts from the voyage to early prairie life. The original tin smith shop also boasts a reconstructed Huckster wagon and the Berg’s tiny upstairs apartment. The gift shop has books and Swedish memorabilia as well as a few treats. Featuring Iowa’s largest Dala horse.
• Tama 
  • Lincoln Highway Bridge – In 1915 the town showed its pride in its good fortune by building a concrete bridge for the highway across Mud Creek with the words “Lincoln Highway” cut out of its guard rails. (E 5th St)
• Tiffin
  • ☆ Literary Rest Stop – Rest Stop with a literary theme, including a giant fountain pen visible from the highway and some wood and glass shelters featuring lines from Iowa-related literature  (The rest area is on eastbound Interstate 80, just before exit 237.)
• Tipton
  • Cedar County Fair – July
• Traer
  • Traer Salt and Pepper Shaker Gallery – Ruth Rasmussen began collecting salt and pepper shakers in 1946. Over 16,000 shakers and still growing.  There is a closet of risque salt and pepper shakers
• Walcott 
  • Iowa 80 Trucking Museum – In the World’s Largest Truck Stop. Vintage vehicles, antique gas pumps, a trucking movie-showing theater, and much more.  (I-80 exit 284)
• Washington
  • Washington County Fair – late-July
• Waterloo
  • ★ John Deere Tractor and Engine Museum – interactive displays, marvel at classic machines, and get an up-close look at rare John Deere artifacts.
  • ★ John Deere Tractor Works Factory Tour
  • ★ Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum – Step into their stories through traditional exhibits, interactive activities, and an electronic Wall of Honor. The Museum consists of over 35 interactive exhibits.
  • The Grout Museum of History and Science features permanent and continually changing exhibitions of area history, and the only public planetarium in Northeast Iowa,
  • National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum – Includes regular wrestling and professional wrestling hall of fame, Greco-Roman hall of champions, 5,000 year history of the sport.
  • Events:
    • Black Hawk County – 4-H & FFA Fair – July
    • Black Hawk County – National Cattle Congress – Sept
• Waukon
  • Muffler Man and Long Horn Steer – At Village Farm and Home Store, there is a cowboy accompanied by a charging longhorn.
  • Allamakee County – Allamakee County Fair – July
• Waverly
  • Bremer County Fair – July
• West Burlington
  • Des Moines County Fair
• West Branch
  • ★ Herbert Hoover National Historic Site – The president’s modest birthplace, his presidential library, and final resting place.  Also features the 1853 schoolhouse, the Friends Meetinghouse, and a rebuilt Jesse Hoover’s blacksmith shop that would have been standing during Hoover’s childhood there. A large creepy sculpture of the Egyptian deity Isis is also on the property. The site also includes historic houses on Downey and Poplar Streets that belonged to significant West Branch residents. These houses are not open to the public. Some of the historic houses are used for park operations and storage, while others have been available as housing for park staff.
• West Liberty
  • Muscatine County Fair – mid-July
• West Union
  • Fayette County Fair – mid-July
• What Cheer
  • Keokuk County – Keokuk County Fair – early-July
• Williamsburg
  • Tower of Grain Wagons – Nine mega-farm grain wagons stacked on each other, each one smaller than the one below.  (2172 M Avenue).  The Kinze farm equipment factory next to the Tower has free tours and a mini-museum.
• Wyoming
  • Jones County – Wyoming Fair – early-July

West

• Adair
  • Smiley Face Water – 
• Adel
  • Dallas County 4-H Fair – July
• Afton
  • Union County Fair –
• Algona
  • Camp Algona POW Museum – The camp held 10,000 German prisoners from 1943-46, who worked on the local farms.  (114 South Thorington St.)
  • Kossuth County Fair – late-July
• Alta
  • Buena Vista County Fair – July
• Altoona
  • Freddy: Big Frog Head – 500 lb frog head made of mostly recycled material. (700 8th St. SW, On the lawn in front of the library.)
  • Moai Dude – An Easter Island head made of rusted steel, 11 feet tall, with a satisfied, surfer-dude grin.  In a luxury townhouse community children’s park.  (3 Ave SW.)
  • Pulp sci-fi rocket sculpture – Haines Park. (3rd Ave SE)
• Ames
  • Reiman Gardens is the largest public garden in Iowa, featuring year-round indoor and outdoor displays. The museum houses the 2,500-square-foot Butterfly Wing, where visitors can view many varieties of butterflies. Also have Elwood, the World’s Tallest Concrete Gnome.
  • Large Metal Womans Head sculpture – 500 Lincoln Way for the Iowa Department of Transportation building.
• Arcadia
  • Big sign and accompanying rock mark the point where water flows either east to the Mississippi River or west to the Missouri River.  On the north side of US-30/Lincoln Hwy.
• Atlantic
  • Cass County Fair – July
• Audubon
  • Albert The Bull – World’s Largest Bull – Albert is a 45-ton, 28-foot-tall concrete replica of the perfect Hereford bull. Push a button and he’ll tell you his story. East Division and Stadium Drive.
  • Audubon County Fair – July
• Aurelia
  • 12-Foot-Tall Metal Mammoth – Built out of metal by local farmer Denny Allen, erected in March 2018. The mammoth weighs over a ton, stands 12 feet tall, and is 22 feet long. Denny used industrial metal scrap for the mammoth’s skin, and pipes from an old church organ for the tusks. Denny has dotted the landscape around Aurelia is with various scrap metal sculptures — including a velociraptor at Ridge View High School — but his mammoth is by far his largest. ( 2149 610th St.)
• Avoca
  • ☆ Several metal sculptures – Volkswagen Beetle Spider, skeletal dragon and dinosaur.   457 S. Chestnut St.
  • Pottawattamie County Fair – mid-July
• Bagley
  • Partridge Family Bus Replica – This brightly painted school bus is a Get-Happy memory trigger for a generation of teen TV watchers.  (100 W. Railway St.)
• Bedford
  • Taylor County Fair – mid-July
• Boone
  • Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad and James H Andrew Railroad Museum
  • Boone County Fair – July
• Brayton
  • Tree in the middle of the road – Large tree in the middle of the intersection of Nighthawk Ave & 350th St. (gravel road)
• Britt
  • Hobo Museum – the only hobo museum in existence, to learn how American hobos have lived and worked throughout history. They have a full collection of real hobo jackets, walking sticks, folk art, etc., as well as a mock-up hobo fire pit and hobo theater. Directly across the street from the Hobo Museum is the Hobo Memorial Garden. It features a plaque with all the names of the past Hobo Queens, a Hobo Time Capsule, a Grave of the Unknown Hobo, and attractive little metal “Hobo Sign” markers amidst the flowers.
  • Hancock County Fair – Late July
• Cherokee
  • Cherokee County Fair – July
• Clarinda
  • Page County Fair – late-July
• Clarion
  • Heartland Museum – Over 90 restored tractors. Recreated indoor Main Street USA streets. 4-H Schoolhouse Museum. Large collection of farm and construction toys. Home to the Iowa Hat Lady, Alvina Sellers, and her partial collection of hats. In a separate building: Big Bud, the largest farm tractor in the world.
• Clear Lake
  • ☆ The Day The Music Died Memorial
• Corning
  • Johnny Carson’s Birthplace – Heeeere’s Johnny Carson’s birthplace! reads the sign-out front. See the tiny room in the tiny restored house where he was born in 1925.  (500 13th St.)
  • Adams County Fair – July
• Council Bluffs
  • Black Squirrels and Purple Martins – Council Bluffs is the home of the rare black squirrel.  Claim to be both the Purple Martin and Black Squirrel Capital of the US.
  • ☆ Coffee Pot Water Tower – Designed to look like a pot of coffee and the enticing advertisement for Sapp Brothers Truck Centers (the oldest chain locations also feature coffee pot water towers).  2608 S 24th St
  • ☆ Giant Golden Spike – 56 feet tall, a huge replica of the tiny spike that marked the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in far-away Utah.  18 S 21st St
  • The Bregant House – Tiny house built for famous little people Jean and Inez Bregant. It has low bathroom fixtures and light switches, and small kitchen appliances and furniture. The 3/4 Craftsman-style bungalow is scaled for their 45- and 42-inch statures. The Bregant house is located on the east side of the street at 517 4th Street.  30 minute tours may be booked online.
  • ☆ Odyssey: Iowa’s Spiky Towers – Four towering spiky artistic sculptures bracket the entry bridge to Iowa that crosses Interstate 80 at exit 1B.
  • Spiky Viaduct – the Broadway Viaduct has spikes running along the span of it and crossing in the middle.
  • Squirrel Cage Jail – The largest revolving jail in the U.S., although it no longer revolves. Three stories high, built in 1885. Experience the horror of hi-tech Victorian criminal justice.  226 Pearl St.
  • Union Pacific Railroad Museum – The museum is housed in a historic Carnegie Library building in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Visitors can explore an extensive compilation of items from 150 years of our nation’s western history, including artifacts, photographs, documents, and equipment. On display in the Union Pacific Railroad Museum are artifacts from the sham “transcontinental railroad” ceremony at Promontory Summit, Utah, and furniture from Lincoln’s funeral car.
  • ☆ 33-Foot-Tall Humanoid Sculpture called “Looking Up” – in front of the Rivers Edge Pavilion.
  • West Pottawattamie County Fair (Westfair) – late-July
• Creston
  • Restored Phillips 66 Gas Station – 1931 Phillips 66 gas station was restored and reopened in 1996 as a tourist info center. Frank Phillips, the founder of Phillips Petroleum, was a barber in Creston.
• Crystal Lake
  • World’s Largest Bullhead – 12 feet long and elevated atop a pile of rocks; its sign notes that the fish is a “Bullhead!”
• Denison
  • Big Bull Statue – Concrete statue of a big, black bull guards the entrance to the Crawford County Fairgrounds.
  • Crawford County Fair – July
• Des Moines
  • Blank Park Zoo – is a 49-acre zoological park on the south side of Des Moines and is the only accredited zoo in Iowa.
  • Family Grave Bed – Polk family plot at Woodland Cemetery features a gravestone carved to resemble a bed for children, with stone headboard, frame, and three pillows. (Section 6, Lot 142)
  • Gray’s Lake Park – 167-acre park featuring a 1.9-mi. lighted walking path around a lake with small boat rentals.
  • Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden – Reputed for its huge collection of the Midwest’s ornamental and native plants, this 14-acre center bordering the Des Moines River features a domed conservatory that houses over 1000 varieties of exotic plants from throughout the world. The center also has an impressive herb garden, tropical and desert plants, and one of the best bonsai collections in the U.S.
  • The High Trestle Trail – 31.4-mile rail trail. Its half-mile-long, 130-foot-tall bridge gets bathed in blue light at night. https://www.traillink.com/trail/high-trestle-trail/
  • Iowa’s Governor’s Mansion
  • ☆ Iowa State Capital
  • Landmark Bridge – 400-foot pedestrian bridge over the Des Moines River with two platforms that converge on a glass platform.
  • Living History Farms – Living History Farms in Urbandale, Iowa is an interactive, 500-acre outdoor museum that tells the amazing 300+ year story of how Iowans transformed the fertile prairies of the Midwest into the most productive farmland in the world. Walking trails and tractor-drawn carts connect the 1876 Town of Walnut Hill to each of the historical farms. Each site is authentically farmed or worked by historic interpreters.
  • ☆ Pappajohn Sculpture Park.  4.4-acre park with 28 sculptures. Guided tours of the sculptures are available from April through to October.
  • ☆ South Des Moines Sculpture Park – crazy sculptures in a renegade art park.
  • Quirky
    • ☆ Plumbers and Steamfitters Monument – Two mighty hands clutch two pipe wrenches and combine their torque in a 2006 steel sculpture celebrating the Plumber and Steamfitters Local Union No. 33.
    • Big City Cow and Calf – in front of Anderson Erickson Dairy.
    • Giant Garden Trowel – 23 feet tall. (1749 Locust St.)
  • Events
    • Polk County 4-H & FFA Fair – mid-July
    • Iowa State Fair – mid-August
• Dexter
  • Dexter Museum – Local history museum.  A display case in the Dexter Museum is devoted to the Dexter shootout, featuring a famous photo of a wailing Blanche Barrow, a radiator cap from one of Bonnie and Clyde’s stolen cars, and a limb from a hickory tree scarred by bullets that was later turned into a walking stick. The museum also has a 4 x 8 wall map with red dots that mark all of Bonnie and Clyde’s many shootout sites.
• Eagle Grove
  • Wright County District Junior Fair – mid-July
• Elk Horn
  • Only Working Danish Windmill In America – Built in 1848 and reassembled in Elk Horn in 1977.  Denmark subsequently passed a law forbidding the exporting of any more of its windmills, so this is the only Danish one in America.
• Emmetsburg
  • Palo Alto County Fair – mid-July
• Estherville
  • Emmet County Agricultural Show – July
• Forest City 
  • Bicycle Creatures – creatures of indeterminate species made from bicycles mark a grassy downtown bicycle parking lot.  (250 N. Clark St.)
• Fort Dodge
  • Fort Museum and Frontier Village – an impressive collection of relics from Iowa’s frontier days, including an array of military, Native American, and natural history artifacts.
  • Silo Mural: Largest In Iowa – A 110-foot-high grain silo painted with giant images of anonymous Fort Dodgeans holding pottery. (On the north side of Hawkeye Ave., just west of 7th Ave. N. and just east of the bridge across the Des Moines River.)
  • Webster County Fair – mid-July
• Greenfield
  • Adair County Fair – July – adaircountyfair.org
• Guthrie Center
  • Guthrie County Fair – Late August
• Harlan
  • Shelby County Fair – mid-July
• Humboldt
  • Humboldt County Fair – July
• Jefferson
  • RVP~1875 Historic Furniture Shop and Museum – makes furniture using only the tools and techniques from the year 1875. They wear old-timey clothes and show how the tools are used. There are over 100 pieces of furniture on display, and many of them convert to other kinds of furniture.  In the back is History Boy Theatre Co. which is used for musicals. 
  • Mahanay M – Late Augustemorial Carillon Tower –  Dedicated in 1966, the 14-story tower concrete tower contains an elevator, observation deck, and 14 bells that chime every 15 minutes.
  • Events
    • Mahanay Memorial Carillon Tower Festival – mid-June
    • Greene County Fair – mid-July
• Jewel
  • In God We Trust Menagerie – A small collection of folk-art metal animals (two elephants, a giraffe, a zebra, and a rooster) cluster around a roadside billboard that reads, “In God we Trust.”  (On the northbound side of US Hwy 69/Little Wall Lake Rd at its intersection with 340 St.)
• Johnston
  • Giant Pitchfork – 41 feet tall. In front of a Pioneer Hi-Bred building.
• Le Mars
  • ☆ The Ice Cream Capital of the World – home to Wells Enterprises Inc., makers of Blue Bunny® brand ice cream and dairy products. Visitor Center.
  • Plymouth County Fair – late-July
• Lewis
  • Reverend George B. Hitchcock House – a stop on the Underground Railroad, was built in the 1850s by George Hitchcock, a minister and ardent abolitionist. The house was specifically built to harbor slaves on their way to freedom in Canada.  It included a full basement, which was unusual for the time. A tiny secret room hidden behind a hinged cupboard in the basement kitchen provided an additional hiding area when the slaves’ safety was threatened. 
• Madrid
  • Ledges State Park – along a tributary of the Des Moines River is a wondrous place – it’s filled with canyons, bluffs and rock formations.
  • The High Trestle Trail
• Malvern
  • Mills County Fair – mid-July
• Manning
  • The Hausbarn, built around 1660, was disassembled and rebuilt along Highway 141 on the east edge of Manning in 1999. The grounds include a 1915 Mission house built by Manning’s millionaire playboy, the carriage house that housed his racing cars, a boar house that was the home of a $20,000 boar from the 1920s, and a 100-year-old church that was moved 11 miles over country roads in 2006.
• Marcus
  • Cherokee County – Marcus Community Fair – August
• Menlo 
  • Old Kalbach Oil Company service station  – A 1934 12.5-foot-tall attendant stands in front of an old gas station. Neon sign restored in 2013.
• Missouri Valley
  • Harrison County Fair – mid-July
• Moville
  • Woodbury County Fair – early-August
• Mount Ayr
  • Ringgold County Fair – mid-July
• Oakland
  • The Black Angel of Oakland Cemetery – At 8 1/2 ft. tall, the broad-winged angelic statue stands out amongst rows of simple gravestones and enjoys very large recognition in the area—not for its finely-crafted sorrowful visage, but for its insistence on appearing eerily black.
• Okoboji
  • Higgins Museum of National Bank Notes – From the days when banks issued their own colorful paper money.
• Onawa
  • Monona County Fair – mid-July
• Percival
  • Sapp Bros Giant Coffee Pot water tower  – stands near the Sapp Bros. Red Apple Restaurant/truck stop on the Iowa/Nebraska border in Percival Iowa, a few miles south of Omaha.
• Perry
  • 1940s Sinclair Station with Dino – Restored downtown Sinclair gas station has old pumps and a Dino statue. (Downtown, on the west side of 3rd St.)
  • Giant Bicycle – Assembled from industrial and farm junk by local artist Cheri Scheib in 2016. She designed its pedals to serve as seats for photo-ops. (Downtown, on the west side of 1st Ave.)
  • Sculptures in a downtown median include a Streamline locomotive and an 11-foot-high crucible of molten iron lit red at night.  
• Pisgah
  • Old Home Fill-er Up And Keep On Truckin’ Cafe – a small restaurant with an unusual name from a C.W. McCall song.
• Pocahontas
  • Pocahontas, the Princess Giant – 25ft statue built in 1956.  Also at the location is the first log cabin of Pocahontas; a beautiful flower bed; and a huge mural done by the Pocahontas Area Community High School Art Club. She stands along Highway 3 East, right across the street from Calvary Catholic Cemetery.
  • Pocahontas County 4-H & FFA Fair – mid-July
• Primghar
  • O’Brien County Fair – late-July
• Red Oak
  • Montgomery County Fair – mid_july
• Rock Rapids
  • Lyon County Fair – mid-July
• Rockwell City
  • Calhoun County Expo – July
• Sac City
  • Barn Quilt Capital of the World – Sac County barn quilts are visible as you travel the countryside. Mounted on barns and corn cribs, all these quilts have an agricultural theme and are identified by signs near the roadside. More quilts are seen in all the communities in Sac County as well. Sac County is truly the “Barn Quilt Capital of the World.”
  • Freedom Rock – This rock depicts local veterans in various scenes: a local woman Marine, the six Bachman brothers (who all survived WW II), Vietnam tunnel rats, Code Whisperers saving a local boy, and a POW/MIA memorial.
  • World’s Largest Popcorn Ball – Unofficial weight 9,370 pounds.  Located in a pavilion downtown.
  • Sac County Fair – late-July
• Shelby
  • ☆ 76-Foot-Tall Corn Stalk – Made of rusty metal (I-80 exit 34. On the northwest side, next to the gas station.)
• Sheldon
  • Sheldon Prairie Museum – nice local history museum
• Sibley
  • Highest Point in Iowa – Hawkeye Point – 1,670 feet it’s officially the highest natural land elevation in Iowa. Near the silo of the old Sterler farm, now county property, augmented with high point photo ops and signage.  (5467 130th St)
  • Osceola County Fair – mid-July
• Sidney
  • Fremont County Fair
• Sioux Center
  • Sioux County Youth Fair – mid-July
• Sioux City
  • Flight 232 Memorial – On July 19, 1989, United Flight 232 crash-landed in Sioux City airport after suffering a catastrophic failure of its tail-mounted engine.  185 people came out alive.  The Flight 232 Memorial commemorates the rescue efforts undertaken by the Sioux City community after the crash. A statue depicts one of the news photos taken that day, of an Iowa National Guardsman carrying a 3-year-old child to safety.
  • Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center – Our permanent exhibits draw guests into an interactive journey with the Corps of Discovery through Siouxland by telling stories in novel ways, including moving and speaking animatronic figures, murals, video, computers, flip books, stamping stations, text-and-graphic panels, hand-painted murals, a brass-rubbing station, and reproductions of military equipment.  They also have 10+ temporary exhibits per year.
  • ☆ Sgt Floyd Riverboat Museum & Visitor Center – The museum is nestled inside the retired and beached M.V. Sergeant Floyd, a boat once used by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.
  • ☆ Sergeant Floyd Monument – A 100 foot obelisk, reminiscent of the Washington Monument, marks the final resting place of the only person that died in the Lewis and Clark Expedition.  It overlooks the Missouri River.  This is the first National Historic Landmark in the United States. 
  • ☆ Trinity Heights – gardens and shrines used for areas of prayer and reflection, life-size replica carving of The Last Supper and towering statues of Jesus and Mary.
  • War Eagle Park – 13-foot Chief War Eagle statue on top of a cobblestone pillar near the confluence of the Big Sioux and Missouri Rivers.  It looks as if he’s made of pipe and sheet metal, with the sharp teeth of his feathered headdress resembling a Bunyan-sized log saw or mighty bear trap.
  • Quirky:
    • Two Tire Man – 12-foot-tall creature made of tires.  (Tires Tires Tires, 2620 Gordon Drive and another at 390 West 19th St.)
• Spencer
  • Clay County Fair
• Spirit Lake
  • Dickinson County Fair – July
• Stanton
  • Coffee Pot and Cup Water Towers – The coffee pot water tower now sits on the grounds of Swedish Heritage and Cultural Center. Coffee Cup water tower still stands.
  • Swedish Heritage and Cultural Center – Local museum and cultural center dedicated to the Swedish heritage.
• Templeton
  • Templeton Distillery – A ten-tier stack of whiskey barrels, vaguely resembling a Christmas tree, stands outside of a rural distillery with an entertaining tour and displays.
• Thompson
  • Winnebago County Fair – mid-July
• Vail
  • Restored Standard Oil Gas Station – East edge of downtown, on the north side of US-30.
• Vinton
  • Benton County Fair – June
• Webster City
  • Hamilton County Fair – July
• Westfield
  • A farmer made of rusty metal sits on an equally rusty tractor by the side of a rural road. “Sheetmetal Steve” is on private property, but is easily seen from the road, about 40 feet from the shoulder. (15333 N. Ridge Rd,)
• West Bend
  • ☆ Grotto of the Redemption – A conglomeration of nine grottos depicting scenes in the life of Jesus, it contains a large collection of minerals and petrifications and is believed to be the largest grotto in the world.
• Whittemore
  • Freedom Rock –
• Winterset
  • ☆ John Wayne Birthplace Museum
  • ☆ Bridges of Madison County
  • ☆ Madison County Historical Complex
  • ☆ Madison County Freedom Rock
  • ☆ Winterset City Park –
    • Cutler-Donahoe Covered Bridge
    • Clark Tower – a castle-like limestone tower located in Winterset City Park. 601 S 7th St, Winterset, IA 50273
  • ☆ Monumental Park
  • Madison County Fair – mid-July
• Woodbine
  • Sculpture Park – T. Rex out of pieces of farm machinery and other metal sculptures can be seen as well in here and throughout the downtown along Walker Street between 5th and 6th Sts.