Loess Hills Scenic Byway
Loess Hills Prairie Tour
| Departure: | Sioux City, Iowa |
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| Destination: | Broken Kettle Grasslands, Iowa |
| Time to allow: | 1 day |
Spend the day in enchanting northwestern Iowa where the Loess Hills Prairie Tour takes you on a journey through several beautiful grassland prairies. Hike along the hilltop ridges, discover endangered species, and understand what makes the Loess Hills in Iowa so extraordinary.
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Start: Sioux City
With a downtown along the shores of the Missouri River, this city has some scenic qualities of its own.
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Stop 1: Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center
Directions from previous place: Begin your tour of Loess Hills Prairie in Riverside Park of Sioux City. Drive northeast on Council Oak Drive toward IA-12. Turn left at IA-12 and proceed for 1.5 miles. Turn left again to stay on IA-12 and drive another 1.8 miles to the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center.
Distance from Previous Site: 3.6 miles / 5.8 km Travel Time from Previous Site: 7 minutes Suggested Time at This Site: 1 hour Our first stop on the Loess Hills Prairie Tour is the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center, which is a destination nature preserve located within the boundaries of Stone State Park dedicated to informing visitors about Loess Hills. These hills were formed thousands of years ago by countless deposits of windblown soil. Deposits of this magnitude have only been found on Iowa’s western border and in China.
Experience the 400-gallon native fish aquarium, butterfly garden, hands-on exhibits, and a walk-through exhibit showing life under the prairie at the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center.
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Stop 2: Stone State Park
Directions from previous place: From Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center head north on IA-12 toward Stone State Park Drive. Turn right at Stone State Park Drive. Then turn right again to head towards the center of the park.
Distance from Previous Site: 1.4 miles / 2.2 km Travel Time from Previous Site: 3 minutes Suggested Time at This Site: 4 hours Our next stop on the Loess Hills Prairie Tour is Stone State Park, which is adjacent to the Big Sioux River. Known for its impressive views of Loess Hills from the tops of bluffs and ravines, Stone State Park is an adventurer’s dream. Take your mountain bike and hit the trails, hike along the hilly ridge tops, set-up camp, or simply park your car for a panoramic view. Enjoy the scenic overlooks of Nebraska, South Dakota, and Iowa that the Dakota and Elk Points provide. One of the most popular trails in the park is the 9-mile hike up to Mount Lucia. Loop around the park as the trail leads you up dark, forested hollows to prairie-covered hilltops overlooking the Missouri and Big Sioux Rivers.
The multi-use trails handle hikers, cyclists, horseback riders, and snowmobilers. The park also offers 30 camping sites (10 with electric hookup) and heated camping cabins. Take a moment and enjoy over 1,000 acres of prairie-topped ridges and dense woodlands and you might see a wild turkey, white-tailed deer, red fox, or coyote. Stop and smell the many rare species of wildflowers, including yucca, Skeleton Plant, and Buffalo Berry, which thrive in this unique mixture of prairie and woodlands.
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Stop 3: Five Ridge Prairie State Preserve
Directions from previous place: From the Stone State Park Drive, turn right and drive five miles north on IA-12. Turn right onto K18. Go north 3 miles and turn left onto 260th Avenue. Watch for County Conservation sign. (Warning: 260th Avenue is not drivable when wet. You may want to park along K18 instead of driving down 260th Avenue.) Drive west for 1 mile on 260th to enter Five Ridge Prairie State Preserve.
Distance from Previous Site: 9 miles / 14.4 km Travel Time from Previous Site: 18 minutes Suggested Time at This Site: 2 hours Five Ridge Prairie is one of the best sites of unbroken prairie remnants left in the State of Iowa. Named for its five major prairie ridges and with no paved roads, visitors who wish to see this site can only access it through various hiking trails.
Hike through the forested ravines between the ridges of Loess Hills, and catch a glimpse of the prairie as Native Americans and pioneers must have seen it. Notice the climate changes between open grasslands, which are warmed by the sun and the cool, humid shadows of the woods. Enjoy the true wilderness of Loess Hills with some cross-country skiing, hiking, hunting, and mountain biking (on established trails only).
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End: Broken Kettle Grasslands
Directions from previous place: From Five Ridge Prairie State Preserve head back to IA-12 from K18. At the intersection of K18 and IA-12, turn right onto IA-12. Drive northwest on IA-12 for five miles then turn right onto Butcher Road. Drive one mile along Butcher Road to enter our last stop on the Loess Hills Prairie Tour.
Distance from Previous Site: 10 miles / 16.0 km Travel Time from Previous Site: 20 minutes Suggested Time at This Site: 1 hour The Broken Kettle Grasslands has the largest remaining tracts of contiguous native prairie left in the state. Its 6,000 acres are home to many animals, including the endangered prairie rattlesnake, the Great Plains toad, badgers and coyotes.
Get out of the car, stretch, and enjoy a picnic lunch as you watch several butterfly species like the Dusted Skipper, Regal Fritillary, Ottoe Skipper, and Pawnee Skipper flutter around you. Take a quiet moment, hear the wind comb through the grasses, and you might hear the various bird calls of the bobolink, Black-billed Magpie, Upland Plover, and Western Kingbird. The botanists of your party will be captivated by plenty of plant life here, including the Purple Coneflower, Snow-on-the-Mountain, Scarlet Gaura, Dotted Blazing Star, and the Ten-petaled Mentzelia.
