River Bluffs Scenic Byway

River Bluffs Scenic Byway runs 109 miles through Fayette and Clayton counties in northeast Iowa. The route follows the Turkey and Volga rivers to where they meet the Mississippi beneath tall limestone bluffs, stringing together 13 towns, three of them directly on the Mississippi: McGregor, Marquette, and Guttenberg, all popular river-town stops with shops, historic architecture, and water access. Inland, the byway also passes Garber, Elkport, Elkader, Volga City, St. Olaf, and Giard, small communities set among the ridges where the three rivers converge. Elkader's Keystone Bridge, a double-arched limestone span built over the Turkey River in 1888-89, is one of the largest twin-arch stone bridges west of the Mississippi and a National Register landmark worth the short detour off the main route. Between towns, the drive alternates between river-bottom straightaways and climbs into bluff-top farmland, with some of the best fall color in northeast Iowa along the way.

• 109 miles, Fayette & Clayton counties
• McGregor, Marquette & Guttenberg river towns
• Turkey-Volga-Mississippi river confluence
• Elkader's 1888 Keystone Bridge
• limestone bluff scenery