10 Amazing Iowa Day Trips That Are Worth The Drive
The ten Iowa day trips below all sit within a two-hour drive of Des Moines, and each one runs as a fully different reason to make the trip. Big Creek State Park covers 26 miles of paved trail and a swimming beach 30 minutes north of the capital. Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge protects 6,000 acres of restored tallgrass prairie with a working bison and elk herd. The Villisca Axe Murder House preserves the 1912 crime scene where eight people were murdered in their sleep, with overnight stays available if you have the nerve. Pella holds the tallest working windmill in North America at 124 feet. The Amana Colonies run as one of the country's most intact 19th-century communal religious settlements. The list below covers the day trips worth the drive.
Science Center of Iowa - Within Des Moines
This downtown science center runs hands-on exhibits for visitors of all ages. The Science Center of Iowa regularly hosts Pint Size Science programs to help children experiment and explore STEM topics like robotics. For sensory-sensitive visitors, the science center offers sensory-friendly hours on the second Tuesday of each month from 4 to 7 p.m.
One of the center's current exhibits takes a deep dive into artificial intelligence, exploring what it does and where it falls short. A permanent exhibition runs Lego creations of iconic global sites, including the Golden Gate Bridge, Hoover Dam, and the Great Pyramid of Giza.
Des Moines Art Center - Within Des Moines
The Des Moines Art Center is a free attraction in the heart of Des Moines that holds works from artists including Georgia O'Keeffe, often called the Mother of American modernism. The center holds her painting From the Lake No. 1 on display. Rotating displays cover several other artists, including Bill Owens' photographs from the 1960s and 1970s capturing moments of suburban American life.
Less than a 10-minute drive away, the free John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park covers downtown Des Moines with more than 30 works on a 4-acre site, ranging from abstract pieces to a giant spider.
Walnut Woods State Park - West Des Moines
Walnut Woods State Park in West Des Moines is a short drive from the Des Moines International Airport and was established in the 1930s as a natural escape for city residents. Once you fly into the city and need a chance to stretch your legs, this park is the standing first stop. It holds one of the largest populations of black walnut trees in Iowa, which provide shade for the more than two miles of trails along the Raccoon River.
The park connects to several other trails for further exploration. The Great Western trailhead runs from Des Moines to Martensdale on a 16.5-mile paved trail, and the Purple Martin Lake Water Resource Area opens onto the water for canoes and kayaks. The park also runs birdwatching for warblers, hawks, owls, and songbirds, with campgrounds for visitors who want to stay close to the city in a more natural environment.
Adventureland Park - Altoona
Adventureland Park is an Iowa amusement park, located just outside of Des Moines in Altoona. It has been in business for over 50 years but hasn't fallen behind the times. The Monster, a steel roller coaster with multiple inversions and a 133-foot drop, runs alongside the wooden classic Tornado, built on July 4, 1978. For water rides, Draken Falls runs a Viking-ship flume past forests and waterfalls.
The Adventure Bay water park inside Adventureland holds the state's largest wave pool, plus a lazy river, kid play areas, and several Reef Racer water slides.
Big Creek State Park - Polk City
Big Creek State Park is a natural retreat 30 minutes north of Des Moines. It sits between two lakes: Big Creek Lake and Saylorville Lake. Determined hikers can travel from Des Moines all the way to the park via the 26-mile Neal Smith Trail, which runs around Saylorville Lake. The biggest activity in Big Creek State Park is swimming in Big Creek Lake or renting kayaks, paddle boards, and pontoon boats at the beach. The park has top-notch facilities, including five boat ramps, fishing jetties, and a wheelchair-accessible fishing pier.
In the woods and prairies surrounding the lake, disc golfers can run an 18-hole course. There's a playground and concession stands for kids.
Villisca Axe Murder House - Villisca
This historic house is a fascinating place if you have steely nerves. Built around 1900 as a family home, it was the site of a horrific murder in 1912 when eight people were killed in their sleep with an axe, including the entire Moore family and the two Stillinger sisters who were visiting. The crime was never solved. Since then, multiple owners have reported strange sights and sounds, leading many to believe the home is haunted by those killed inside. Today, the house is owned by US Ghost Adventures, which provides ghost tours nationwide.
Tour options include a less-spooky Daytime House Tour, a Private House Tour, or for the truly committed, an overnight stay in the wood-frame farmhouse, located just under two hours from Des Moines. The house has no indoor plumbing or electricity in keeping with historical accuracy, but a restroom is available next door.
Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge - Prairie City
The majority of Iowa's native prairies have been lost to agricultural conversion and development. To restore that environment, the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1990, just over 30 minutes from Des Moines. The 6,000-acre refuge runs primarily as tallgrass prairie, meadows, and oak savannas, with native bison and elk wandering its borders.
The refuge runs trails through each of these ecosystems, including the 2-mile Tallgrass Trail, the half-mile Oak Savanna Trail, and the 4.5-mile Prairie Parkway Bike Trail. Bring a camera for the bison and the more than 200 species of birds that call the refuge home.
Amana Colonies
The Amana Colonies are among the most welcoming towns in the United States, with German heritage and an unusual founding history. The Colonies consist of seven villages founded by a group of German Pietists who lived in communal life under strict religious rule from 1855 to 1932. In the 1930s, following the economic pressure of the Great Depression, the Amana Colonies opened to outside visitation as a tourist destination, with heritage sites, German restaurants, and seasonal festivals. The Amana Heritage Society runs four buildings that preserve the history of communal living, manufacturing, and religious practice. The community historically ate in halls together rather than individually, and today one of those communal kitchens has been converted into the German-American Ronneburg Restaurant.
Located less than two hours from Des Moines, Amana works as a day trip year-round. The Colonies host German festivals throughout the calendar, including Oktoberfest in October, the Maipole Festival in May, and the Wurst Festival in the summer.
Pella
Like the Amana Colonies, Pella was a major immigration center, but for Dutch settlers, not Germans. Minister Hendrick P. Scholte led a group from the Netherlands to the site in 1847. Visit and the Dutch influence is immediate, with tulip fields, windmills, and Dutch cheese farms.
The Vermeer Windmill is the tallest, at 124 feet from the ground to the top of the highest sail, making it the tallest working windmill in North America. The mill was designed and built in the Netherlands by Lukas Verbij, then disassembled, shipped to Iowa, and reassembled here in 2002. Other windmills run throughout Pella, including at Brinkhoff Park (surrounded by tulip fields) and Sunken Gardens Park (named for a sunken pond shaped like a Dutch wooden shoe). Frisian Farms Cheese House nearby covers Dutch Gouda and Frisian-style cheese.
John Wayne Birthplace & Museum - Winterset
By driving to the small community of Winterset, visitors will find the birthplace of one of America's most recognizable Western actors: John Wayne. Born as Marion Robert Morrison in 1907, he became the most iconic actor in Hollywood Western films. Despite that fame, this museum is the only major museum dedicated to him.
The John Wayne Birthplace & Museum includes the actor's childhood home, a movie theater, and artifacts of importance to his career. Its most recent acquisition is the 70-millimeter Mitchell camera used for the 1929 film The Big Trail, one of John Wayne's first leading roles. The museum also holds original movie posters, wardrobes, scripts, artwork, and sculptures. A birthday celebration is held at the museum each May with musical performances and special guests.
A World Of Possibility In Iowa
Iowa packs a lot of variety into the day-trip range out of Des Moines. The German communal heritage of the Amana Colonies, the Dutch heritage of Pella, the John Wayne legacy in Winterset, and the haunting history of the Villisca Axe Murder House all sit within a two-hour drive of the capital. Outdoor stops like Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge and Big Creek State Park run alongside. Bring a camera and pick the day trip that fits the day you have.
