Iowa’s Driftless bluffs and Norwegian Decorah
Up the Mississippi bluffs past ancient effigy mounds, then inland to the trout streams, springs and Czech and Norwegian towns of north-east Iowa.
- Distance
- 214 km (133 mi)
- Driving
- 2 h 23 min
- Suggested days
- 3
- Stops
- 8
- States
- IA
- Updated
- May 16, 2026
At a glance: 3-day road trip of about 214 km (133 mi) with 8 stops, from Dubuque to Bily Clocks Museum. About 2 h 23 min of driving in total.
Route description
The Driftless Area escaped the last glaciers, leaving steep bluffs, cold springs and deep valleys unlike the rest of Iowa. From Dubuque, US-52 climbs over ridges to Guttenberg, a river town with stone buildings along a long waterfront park and a lock and dam to watch.
IA-340 leads to Pikes Peak State Park above McGregor, with one of the finest views on the Mississippi. A few miles north, Effigy Mounds National Monument protects over 200 mounds, some shaped like bears and birds; the trail to Fire Point takes about an hour.
Follow IA-76 and the river road north to Lansing and drive up to Mount Hosmer for a view of the Black Hawk Bridge. IA-9 then turns west over the ridges to Decorah, a Norwegian-American town with the Vesterheim museum, trout streams and the waterfall at Dunning’s Spring.
Finish south-west of Decorah in Spillville, a Czech village where the Bily Clocks Museum fills the house Antonín Dvořák stayed in during 1893. Roads are narrow and hilly but paved; October color on the bluffs is superb.
Stop-by-stop itinerary
In driving order. Distances are estimates between consecutive stops.
- 1Start
Dubuque
IA - 257 km
Guttenberg
IA - 329 km
Pikes Peak State Park
ViewsMcGregor, IAA bluff-top park with one of the best views on the upper Mississippi, over the mouth of the Wisconsin River. A boardwalk trail leads to a small waterfall.
- 412 km
Effigy Mounds National Monument
HistoryHarpers Ferry, IAOver 200 ancient mounds, some shaped like bears and birds, on wooded bluffs above the Mississippi. The Fire Point trail climbs to river views in about an hour.
- 537 km
Mount Hosmer Park
ViewsLansing, IAA small hilltop park above Lansing with a wide view of the river, its islands and the Black Hawk Bridge. The road up is short and steep.
- 654 km
Decorah
IA - 72 km
Dunning’s Spring
NatureDecorah, IAA spring-fed waterfall tumbling down a limestone bluff at the edge of Decorah. Free, easy to reach and linked to town by bike trails.
- 822 km
Bily Clocks Museum
OdditiesSpillville, IAElaborate hand-carved clocks made by two farmer brothers, in the house where Antonín Dvořák spent the summer of 1893.
