4. DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge
At the height of the tourist season, some 4,000 visitors flock to this wetland refuge on the Missouri River, but they’re outnumbered 100 to 1 by the snow geese. Each fall nearly half a million of these birds alight on the shores of DeSoto Lake — the midpoint of a 3,000-mile migration between Arctic nesting grounds and their winter home along the Gulf of Mexico. So vast are the flocks that at takeoff they blot out the sky like a blizzard, and the din of their honking can make it difficult to converse with someone just a few feet away. The preserve’s other inhabitants include wood ducks, mallards, warblers, piping plovers, and bald eagles.
The visitor center is a starting point for several trails and roads that lead through the refuge. It also houses a fascinating display of Civil War-era artifacts recovered from the Bertrand, a stern-wheeler that foundered nearby in 1865.
5. Murray Hill Scenic Overlook
After returning to Logan, the drive continues northwest on Rtes. 127 and 183, passing through a rustic mosaic of farmsteads, ridge-top grasslands, and apple orchards. In friendly towns such as Logan, Magnolia, and Pisgah, a cup of coffee at the village café may lead to an afternoon of unhurried conversation with locals — a hallmark of Midwestern hospitality.
Just a few miles to the west of Pisgah, the Murray Hill Scenic Overlook reminds visitors how richly varied this landscape can be, as the snug valley of the Little Sioux River gives way to the wide greenish-brown belt of the Missouri River floodplain.
6. Preparation Canyon State Park
During the 1850s a band of idealistic Mormons settled here and established the School of Preparation for the Life Beyond. Before long, however, their leader — a con man named Charles Thompson — robbed them of their property. Although Thompson was eventually run out of town, many of his followers became so disillusioned that they decided to move on as well. By the turn of the century, the community existed only in memory. Happily, Preparation Canyon State Park, just off Rte. 183, does a far better job of fulfilling its promises. Here you can explore over 300 acres of steep loess terrain –accompanied, some say, by the ghosts of a few of the cheated settlers. Keep an eye peeled for such creatures as wild turkeys, white-tailed deer, and red foxes.
7. Sioux City
The drive eases toward its finish with a long climb to Sioux City. Though it boasts only about 80,000 residents, Sioux City ranks as one of the country’s largest grain and livestock centers, with diversions aplenty along its busy waterfront. Drop by the Sergeant Floyd Museum of riverboat history, take in a bluff-top view of the Big Sioux and Missouri rivers from Floyd Monument, and finish with a hike to Dakota Point Overlook in Stone State Park, an 1,100-acre recreation area at the north edge of town.
8. Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center
Within the boundaries of Stone State Park, you’ll find the extensive Dorothy Pecaut nature center with exhibits that include a “walk-under” prairie, an aquarium of native fish, natural history dioramas, and a hands-on discovery area that appeals to children and adults alike. Continuing northwest on Rte. 12 to Akron, the drive bids farewell to the Loess Hills as the slopes themselves recede from view, their proud tops melting into the gently folded plains.
Republished from:
Most Scenic Drives in America
buy NOW$25.00
