Iowa
Find Iowa travel tips, stories, maps, videos and news for unusual tourist attractions and sights.
Top Rated Attractions
Grotto of the Redemption
West Bend, Iowa
A priest promised the Virgin Mary he'd build a wondrous shrine if pneumonia didn't kill him. It didn't, and he did.
Albert the Bull
Audubon, Iowa
Albert is a 45-ton, 28-foot-tall concrete replica of the perfect Hereford bull. Push a button and he'll tell you his story.
Snake Alley: A Very Crooked Street
Burlington, Iowa
A combatant in the World's Crookedest Street battle, in an unexpected place. No traffic back-ups to drive down Snake Alley, unlike San Francisco's more famous crooked street.
Squirrel Cage Jail
Council Bluffs, Iowa
The largest revolving jail in the U.S., although it no longer revolves. Three stories high, built in 1885. Experience the horror of hi-tech Victorian criminal justice.
Replica Cardiff Giant
Fort Dodge, Iowa
Full-size copy of the famous prank. Fort Dodge is where the gypsum block came from that was carved into the original Cardiff Giant.
Matchstick Marvels Museum
Gladbrook, Iowa
Pat Acton builds impressively-detailed, giant models of buildings, spaceships, whatever, out of hundreds of thousands of wooden matchsticks.
Spook Cave: Underground Boat Tour
McGregor, Iowa
All-boat, all underground tour. Relax, but don't ignore warnings to duck.
Pocahontas, the Princess Giant
Pocahontas, Iowa
Impressive sculpture of the town's namesake, 25 feet tall, stands next to a road that doesn't get a lot of traffic. Built in 1956.
Future Birthplace of James T. Kirk
Riverside, Iowa
This is the place. A photo-worthy monument marks the spot.
Star Trek Voyage Home Museum
Riverside, Iowa
Star Trek collectibles, home-built exhibits, and occasional artifacts in the town where Captain James T. Kirk will be born in the 23rd century.
Buddy Holly Crash Site
Clear Lake, Iowa
Corn field where the pioneer rocker with the geek glasses and hiccup-y voice met an early end, along with Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper.
Surf Ballroom: Buddy Holly's Last Gig
Clear Lake, Iowa
Preserved as 1959 site of the last performance of rockers Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper, before their plane crashed nearby.
Trunkations
Roadside America's blog, offering news, rants and ruminations on the state of Iowa
Offbeat Landmarks and Oddities
Choice field reports and tips. Or check out: Complete list of Iowa attractions.
- Altoona: Freddy: Big Frog Head
- Audubon: Albert the Bull
- Avoca: Volkswagen Beetle Spider [tips]
- Brandon: Iowa's Largest Frying Pan [tips]
- Burlington: Snake Alley: A Very Crooked Street
- Cedar Rapids: Our Mother of Sorrows Grotto [tips]
- Clear Lake: Buddy Holly Crash Site
- Clear Lake: Surf Ballroom: Buddy Holly's Last Gig
- Columbus Junction: Lover's Leap Swinging Bridge [tips]
- Council Bluffs: Giant Golden Spike
- Council Bluffs: Squirrel Cage Jail
- Council Bluffs: Union Pacific Railroad Museum [tips]
- Council Bluffs: 33-Foot-Tall Humanoid
- Crystal Lake: Fish - World's Largest Bullhead [tips]
- Davenport: Famous Chiropractor Cracks Your Back
- Decorah: Ice Cave - Frozen in Summer [tips]
- Des Moines: Crazy Sculpture Park [tips]
- Dubuque: Fenelon Place Elevator [tips]
- Dubuque: Crystal Lake Cave [tips]
- Dubuque: Walk-Thru Catfish [tips]
- Dubuque: Holy Family Grotto [tips]
- Dyersville: Field of Dreams
- Dysart: Main Street Gorge
- Eldon: American Gothic House [tips]
- Fort Dodge: Replica Cardiff Giant
- Fredonia: Drive A 1914 Road Built by Convicts [tips]
- Gladbrook: Matchstick Marvels Museum
- Griswold: Cabbage Patch Fantasy Land
- Hospers: Hospers Memorial Statues
- Ida Grove: Castles of Ida Grove
- Iowa City: World's Largest Wooden Nickel [tips]
- Iowa City: Devonian Fossil Gorge [tips]
- Kelley: Phone Booth - Welcome to Kelley [tips]
- LeClaire: Tug Fest - West Side of Mississippi River Tug-of-War [tips]
- Lynnville: L.J. Maasdam's Wheel Art [tips]
- Maquoketa: Two-Butted Lamb [tips]
- Marquette: Pinky the Elephant
- Mason City: The Music Man Square [tips]
- Mason City: Rancho Deluxe Z: Junk Art Lot [tips]
- McGregor: Spook Cave: Underground Boat Tour
- Menlo: Freedom Rock [tips]
- Menlo: Neon Gas Station Man [tips]
- Newton: Joy, the Movie Theater Pig
- Pella: Largest Dutch Windmill In the U.S. [tips]
- Pella: Museum of Traffic Control [tips]
- Pocahontas: Pocahontas, the Princess Giant
- Riverside: Future Birthplace of James T. Kirk
- Riverside: Star Trek Voyage Home Museum
- Riverside: Bronze Statue of James T. Kirk
- Ryan: Happy Chef - Now an Umpire [tips]
- Sac City: World's Largest Popcorn Ball [tips]
- Sibley: Highest Point in Iowa - Hawkeye Point [tips]
- Sioux City: Trinity Heights: Giant Jesus and Mary
- Sioux City: Tire Man [tips]
- Sioux City: Tire Man [tips]
- Stanton: Coffee Pot and Cup Water Towers
- Strawberry Point: World's Largest Strawberry
- Templeton: Whiskey Barrel Tree, Distillery Tour [tips]
- Tipton: Mini-Golf Burger Family [tips]
- Villisca: Villisca Ax Murder House and Museum
- Wadena: Squidward's House: Giant Tiki Head [tips]
- Walcott: Museum at World's Largest Truck Stop [tips]
- Waterloo: John Deere Tractor and Engine Museum
- Waukon: Muffler Man and Long Horn Steer [tips]
- West Bend: Grotto of the Redemption
- Winterset: John Wayne Birthplace Museum
