Loess Hills National Scenic Byway: Ridge Road Loop
Loess Hills National Scenic Byway: Ridge Road 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: Ridge Road Loop with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
The Ridge Road Loop peels off the Loess Hills National Scenic Byway in Iowa's Plymouth County, climbing 12 miles between Akron and Westfield. It's a gravel-and-pavement route to the state's largest surviving prairie, threading Broken Kettle Grasslands, The Nature Conservancy's largest Iowa preserve, where roughly 200 bison graze through summer across 6,000 acres of tallgrass that once covered the entire region. It continues through Five Ridge Prairie, a Plymouth County park where hiking trails drop from open, native ridgetops into oak-timbered valleys. Signs mark the turns roughly every two miles, and the full loop takes about 25 minutes to drive, though the prairie and its bison herd reward a longer stop. This is the northernmost of the byway's sixteen excursion loops, reached by taking the Butcher Road Connection south from Highway 12 at Westfield.
- 12-mile loop, Plymouth County
- Broken Kettle Grasslands, ~200 bison
- 6,000 acres of tallgrass prairie
- Five Ridge Prairie County Park
- northernmost of 16 byway 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: Ridge Road Loop
1 campground or RV park sits within about 5 miles of Loess Hills National Scenic Byway: Ridge Road Loop.
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