Driftless Area Scenic Byway
Driftless Area Scenic Byway is a State Scenic Byway in Iowa. Within Iowa it covers roughly 95 miles. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along Driftless Area Scenic Byway with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
Driftless Area Scenic Byway winds 144 miles across Allamakee and Winneshiek counties, the one corner of Iowa the last ice age never flattened. The route passes through Decorah, Harpers Ferry, Lansing, New Albin, Postville, and Waukon, crossing terrain locals call gashed and furrowed: limestone bluffs, forested valleys, and river bottoms cut by the Mississippi, Yellow, and Upper Iowa rivers. Near Harpers Ferry, Effigy Mounds National Monument preserves animal-shaped earthworks built by prehistoric Native Americans, while Decorah's Vesterheim National Norwegian-American Museum traces the region's heavy Norwegian settlement. Cold, spring-fed streams throughout the byway support some of Iowa's best trout fishing, and historic stone churches and pioneer cemeteries mark the smaller crossroads. Fall color here is considered some of the best in the state, drawing drivers to the same bluff-top overlooks that make the summer paddling and hiking worthwhile.
- 144 miles, Allamakee & Winneshiek counties
- Effigy Mounds National Monument
- Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, Decorah
- Mississippi, Yellow & Upper Iowa river valleys
- unglaciated 'driftless' terrain
- cold-water trout streams
Plan a drive on Driftless Area Scenic Byway →
What is a State Scenic Byway?
State Scenic Byways are roads a state has formally recognized for their scenic, natural, historic or cultural value — each state's own curated collection of drives worth taking slowly.
Where to Stay along Driftless Area Scenic Byway
2 campgrounds and RV parks sit within about 5 miles of Driftless Area Scenic Byway.
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