Loess Hills National Scenic Byway: Orchard Ridge Loop
Loess Hills National Scenic Byway: Orchard Ridge Loop is a National Scenic Byway in Iowa. Within Iowa it covers roughly 12 miles. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along Loess Hills National Scenic Byway: Orchard Ridge Loop with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
Orchard Ridge Loop threads one of the Loess Hills' famous minimum-maintenance 'B roads' through Iowa's Harrison County. It runs just off Easton Trail/County Road F20 on the Loess Hills National Scenic Byway. A brief, four-tenths-of-a-mile stretch here ranks among the narrowest and steepest B roads in the region, a single-lane ridge-top track where Ideal Avenue meets another B road in an unusual three-way junction and the side embankments seem to converge from every direction. These minimum-maintenance gravel roads, common throughout the Harrison County backcountry, are what many Loess Hills enthusiasts consider the most authentic way to experience the terrain's knife-edge ridges up close, though they demand a slower pace and a vehicle that can handle loose gravel. The loop sits roughly midway along the byway between Little Sioux and Woodbine, one of three Harrison County excursion routes alongside Fountainbleu and Sawmill Hollow.
- Harrison County B-road detour
- Easton Trail / County Road F20
- narrow ridge-top single-lane stretch
- Ideal Avenue three-way junction
- one of 3 Harrison County loops
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What is a National Scenic Byway?
National Scenic Byways are roads recognized at the federal level for at least one outstanding quality — scenic, natural, historic, cultural, archaeological or recreational — that gives travelers a reason to seek them out rather than just pass through.
Where to Stay along Loess Hills National Scenic Byway: Orchard Ridge Loop
No campgrounds are listed close to Loess Hills National Scenic Byway: Orchard Ridge Loop yet, but there are rooms near the route.
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