# Iowa’s Driftless bluffs and Norwegian Decorah

> 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.

Source: https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b9-iowa-driftless/

**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. 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 |
| Route | Dubuque → Bily Clocks Museum |
| States | IA |
| Updated | May 16, 2026 |

## 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

1. **Dubuque** (IA)
2. **Guttenberg** (IA)
3. **Pikes Peak State Park** (McGregor, IA): A 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.
4. **Effigy Mounds National Monument** (Harpers Ferry, IA): Over 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.
5. **Mount Hosmer Park** (Lansing, IA): A 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.
6. **Decorah** (IA)
7. **Dunning’s Spring** (Decorah, IA): A spring-fed waterfall tumbling down a limestone bluff at the edge of Decorah. Free, easy to reach and linked to town by bike trails.
8. **Bily Clocks Museum** (Spillville, IA): Elaborate hand-carved clocks made by two farmer brothers, in the house where Antonín Dvořák spent the summer of 1893.