8 Prettiest Small Towns In Iowa
Iowa's best-kept secret is its diversity. This state drew in immigrants from many different countries: Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, and Germany, eager to find a Western home in this prairie state. Elk Horn, for example, hosts Danish art amid a restored prairie trail, while Winterset offers romantic walks through covered bridges and mazes. Much of the beauty here comes from the structures left behind by Old World immigrants, such as the largest Dutch windmill in America in Pella or the quaint communal kitchens used by a religious utopian community in the Amana Colonies. You'll fall in love with Iowa all over again when you visit these eight prettiest small towns in Iowa.
Elk Horn
Elk Horn's beauty comes directly from its people, who have strived to keep their Danish culture alive in the heart of Iowa. Elk Horn drew in many Danish immigrants in the late 1800s with the establishment of a Danish school there in 1878. Right in the center of town is a Danish Windmill & Welcome Center, featuring a 1848 windmill that was brought over to the town.
Elk Horn prides itself on preserving the Iowa prairie landscape alongside its Danish heritage sites. This can be seen at the Museum of Danish America, featuring exhibits on their local art and culture, and a 35-acre park of restored prairie land and wildflowers called the Jens Jensen Prairie Landscape Park. Many of its exhibits showcase beautiful folk art, such as one on Danish Ceramics featuring Christmas plates and collections from the 18th century.
McGregor
The most scenic region in Iowa is the Driftless Area. Most of Iowa was flattened by melting, drifting glaciers at the end of the Ice Age, but the Driftless area was missed by these glaciers, so it still has many hills and bluffs. McGregor sits in the center of Driftless and has views that folks from all across Iowa drive out to see, especially at the Pikes Peak State Park. The park has several river bluffs and valleys, including a 500-foot bluff overlooking the convergence of the Mississippi and Wisconsin Rivers.
Some of its most scenic places weren't built by natural means, but rather by Native Americans. They left behind an effigy shaped like a bear called Bear Mound. The park links to Effigy Mounds National Monument, which preserves dozens of Native American mounds shaped like animals, including mammals, birds, and reptiles. It's easy to let your imagination go wild in wondering what purpose these mounds had. You can continue to let your imagination wander when you set foot in McGregor's downtown and visit one of its locally owned book shops, including Paper Moon and Rivertown Fine Books.
Decorah
Decorah is similar to Elk Horn in that it also drew in Scandinavian immigrants, but this town was settled by the Danes' northern neighbor: Norwegians. When they arrived here and saw the waterfalls, river bluffs, and caves, they said they found their vesterheim (western home) here in Decorah. They brought with them knowledge of Norwegian folk art and an appreciation for outdoor living that is preserved at the Versterheim museum and folk art school.
Decorah really comes alive once you start exploring its parks, which contain just about every ecosystem imaginable. There's a prairie at the Decorah Community Prairie & Butterfly Garden, and a bone-chilling cave that stays frozen almost all year within the Decorah Ice Cave State Preserve. At Dunning Springs Park, a spring-fed waterfall flows beneath a stone arch bridge and links to a network of trails that explore Decorah’s scenic Driftless Region.
Mount Vernon
Mount Vernon gets its name from George Washington's estate in Virginia, but it stands out on its own with its beautiful Gothic Revival church, Parker truss bridge, and beautiful riverside ravines and bluffs. Palisades-Kepler State Park lies along the Cedar River within Mount Vernon, featuring river bluffs, ravines, and forests, with trails highlighting the area’s natural and historical features. On the grounds of Cornell College in Mount Vernon stands the beautiful King Memorial Chapel, built in 1882 in a Gothic Revival style with limestone from Stone City. Its spires and 130-foot-tall clock tower with massive bells still awe students and visitors alike.
One of the locals' favorite places is the Sutliff Bridge, an 1898 Parker truss bridge across the Cedar River. It was shut down in 2008 due to local flooding and was restored four years later thanks to local donations and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Mount Vernon's charm extends to its scenic farms that put on agriculture tours like hayrack rides through Bass Farms.
Pella
Iowa drew in immigrants from around the world, such as the Dutch who came to Pella in 1847. Visiting this town feels like stepping back in time to a 19th-century Dutch village, thanks to the windmills, tulip fields, and even a pond shaped like a Dutch wooden shoe at the Sunken Gardens Park. Pella has the largest working windmill in the US, known as the Vermeer Mill. Built in a 19th-century Dutch style, the mill stands at 124 feet tall. It's not the only windmill in town; there's also one at Brinkhoff Park, which, during the spring, is lit up by dazzling tulip fields.
The best time to visit Pella is in May, when the entire town is lit up with more than 300,000 tulips for the Tulip Time festival, which also features Dutch activities and dances. If you visit in the summer, you can cool off at nearby Lake Red Rock, Iowa’s largest lake, which is popular for bass fishing and has trails for hiking and recreation.
Le Claire
Le Claire is a top-notch Mississippi River town that has long inspired attention nationally from its famous residents, massive antique market, and its position on the Great River Road National Scenic Byway. The views along this byway are beautiful, from river bluffs to river-side beaches, and as you pull into Le Claire, you might see the Riverboat Twilight: a Victorian-era steamboat that still takes tours out onto the river.
There's something about this town that inspires showmanship, as can be seen by its most famous resident: Buffalo Bill. This wild west showman was born here, and his home and stories are housed at the Buffalo Bill Museum. The town is also renowned for its antiques, especially at the Antique Archeology store. It had such a large collection that it was featured on the show American Pickers. You can go searching for items featured on the show at Antique Archeology.
Winterset
From the covered bridges to the birthplace of John Wayne, Winterset is a star-studded small town that has enchanted both filmmakers and visitors alike. It sits on the Covered Bridges Scenic Byway, which traverses through 82 miles of rural roads to many covered bridges, which inspired the 1995 Clint Eastwood film called The Bridges of Madison County.
The town's most iconic bridge, the Cutler-Donahue Covered Bridge, is located in the Winterset City Park. The park stands out not just for its bridge but also for a beautiful hedge maze and Clark Tower, a castle-like structure built in honor of an early pioneer. The main reason people come to Winterset is to visit the John Wayne Birthplace & Museum, containing this star's childhood home, posters, film reels, and artifacts from his career.
Amana Colonies
The historic charm of the Amana Colonies is immediately apparent to anyone visiting this fascinating utopian community. German Pietists fled their homeland in Germany to seek a land where they could practice their religion freely, and they found it in Iowa. The community lived and ate together in communal kitchens and workplaces from the 1850s to the 1930s, when the utopian experiment ended due to economic pressure. However, almost all of their old buildings are still intact, from the High Amana General Store with its tin roof and glass displays to the Communal Kitchen & Cooper Shop, where up to 50 people ate together.
Much of Amana was populated by craftsmen and women, and that legacy is still preserved at the Creative Colony, with handmade pottery, kitchen wares, rugs, fused glass, and many other items. The town's real beauty shines during community events and festivals, such as its ribbon dances at maypoles during the Maifest in May or at its Tannenbaum Forest, which consists of many Christmas trees housed within the Festhalle Barn during the Christmas season.
A Majestic Western Home
Although the Norwegians were the only ones to name Iowa as their vesterheim, anyone who came or visited here can speak to its majestic western qualities. Clint Eastwood would draw attention to the covered bridges of Winterset, while the Dutch would discuss how they were able to keep their culture alive with their windmills and tulips. The showmen who lived here could tell stories of how their Iowa homes prepared them to hit the road as actors. Even if you're just coming to Iowa to visit, you'll learn why so many people traveled across an ocean to settle here after seeing these pretty small towns.
