Thursday, March 22, 2012

Any Iowans Out There?

If anyone out there knows Iowa - I'm researching where the best farmland/rolling hills are?

8 comments:

Jane Albin said...

My husband and I drove across Iowa last summer. We drove from Davenport up to La Claire, back down to route 80. Stopped in Iowa City, Des Moines and ended up in Souix City. We jogged north out of Des Moines and went through Grand Junction (time forgotten) and through Denison IA, home of Donna Reed. There is lots of flat farmland along route 30.
The hilly part is along the entire western side of the state. This area is called the Loess Hills. It is a really interesting area. (Nothing like PA, where I am from.)
I think you will love it.
Oh make sure you take the tour of the Iowa State Capital if you have time. They have some amazing spaces in the building. Also in, The county courthouse in Sioux City was an early design of Frank Lloyd Wright. It is amazing inside!

c.dingman said...

I am from Southeast Iowa which has a lot of flat farmland. I struggle to find waterfalls. For rolling hills try the Cedar Rapids area, Grant Wood country. Don't forget to visit the museum there. Also Cedar Falls is well known for its outdoor art installations. Around my area you would have to go past Fairfield to around Bloomfield to find nice rolling hills.

JAllgood said...

I grew up in Cedar Rapids, IA and I agree that the southeastern part of Iowa is scenic with the rolling green hills. A great deal of Grant Wood landscape scenes are painted between Cedar Rapids and Sone City, Iowa. In fact, there was an artist commune in Grant Wood's day set up just outside of Stone City.

Maggie said...

I live in the heart of Iowa in the rolling hills of Madison County. It's beautiful with it's old barns, corn/soy bean fields, farm ponds, Belted Galloways (cows that look like black/white pigs), and 6 covered bridges. Pammel Park has the only tunnel in Iowa and a ford across the creek instead of a bridge. Google Iowa Tourism and sign up for the tourist guide to Iowa. It's divided into sections and has brief descriptions of lots of attractions.

saundra george said...

You might consider Anamosa Iowa, where they have a Grant Wood Festival. http://www.anamosachamber.org/grantwoodartfestival/

or Cedar Rapids home of the Grant Wood studio
http://www.traveliowa.com/attractiondetails.aspx?cat=7&id=&destid=5447

Liz said...

I'm from Des Moines. Recently, I drove SE along Highway 5 to Knoxville to check out some Craigslist furniture treasures. The furniture was a bust but the beautiful drive more than made up for it.

Darren Maurer said...

Karen,

I, my wife and two daugters are in Sioux City. The hills on the western side of the state are great and there is just the right amount of farmland along the hills to make some very interesting landscape compositions. I'm out photographing and painting all the time. You would be more than welcome to use us for a home base in your research. Plenty of room.

Darren

Gin Lammert Pastel Oil said...

South Central to SE Iowa is beautiful farmland country. Davis County and adjacent Van Buren Co. is known for Amish farms. YOu can also follow the Mormon Trail along scenic J40 highway. Two things to watch out for on the road are buggies and deer. People still wave when you meet them on the highway and you can stop, ask for directions just about anywhere. The best place I can think of is Bentonsport, IA. The history here is incredible.