Staying Fit
Iowa evokes images of rolling prairies and cornfields waving in the wind, and this four-day road trip treats you to such pastoral vistas. But much of the route focuses on another camera-pleaser — the state’s stretch of the Great River Road, a collection of highways and state routes tracing the twists and turns of the mighty Mississippi River, from northern Minnesota down to Louisiana’s Gulf Coast. Here, where the river forms Iowa’s eastern border with Illinois and Wisconsin, blazing ash, elm, hickory and maple trees shade the riverbanks with brilliant fall color, made more dramatic by the contrast with ochre and chalk-white limestone bluffs. Lakes, waterfalls and wetlands add to the variety, providing additional dramatic backdrops for the bursts of color. Plus, there’s plenty of history, including the outposts of rugged early homesteaders.
Day 1: Iowa City
Begin exploring in Iowa City, the former state capital, with your attention focused on downtown. Your first stop: the golden-domed Old Capitol, which dates from 1842. When Iowa moved its capital to Des Moines in 1857, the neoclassical building was converted into a university, and it’s now a museum, with both guided and self-guided tours. The interior has been restored to look as it did when the building still functioned as the capitol; a highlight is its eye-catching reverse-spiral staircase — unusual because it ascends to the left (most ascend to the right).
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After touring the Old Capitol, head to the nearby Prairie Lights bookstore, beloved for its three stories of books, its full calendar of readings and a coffee house that has hosted such noted authors as Robert Frost and Langston Hughes. Then head south on South Clinton Street to downtown’s pedestrian mall. Break for lunch with a bowl of Singapore noodles or skewers of ginger-spiced beef at JiangHu Asian Street Food before spending the afternoon browsing your way through several blocks of quirky shops and boutiques. Don’t miss the Record Collector, overflowing with vintage vinyl and music posters.
As you stroll, you’ll notice vividly painted public benches and at least a dozen striking murals. They’re part of Iowa City’s extensive public art project, which also includes sculptures and mosaics. The city publishes an interactive guide to them online.
Come evening, don’t miss Sprites, an interactive light installation that spans a pedestrian alley with beams of colored light that pulse in response to movement, sound and even temperature.
Where to stay: Settle into a 1913 mansion at the Brown Street Inn, a budget-friendly property just north of downtown in a leafy historic district. Its four rooms have been elegantly restored, but they’re all on the second floor, and there’s no elevator. For the mobility impaired, a better downtown option at a similar price is the 56-room Hotel Vetro, with wheelchair-accessible rooms that have tactile signs and Braille signage.
Day 2: Iowa City to Dubuque (149 miles)
Head north for 16.5 miles on State Route 1 to Lake Macbride State Park. In fall, the lake’s placid waters provide a perfect mirror for the maples, oaks and willows ringing its shore in hues of bronze, crimson and purple. Multitiered Macbride Falls becomes even more photogenic as the cottonwoods and hickories outline the cascades in gold (the rush of the water provides a soothing soundtrack for the visually impaired). Reach the falls via a short, paved walk across the spillway from the park’s campground, or hike the moderately challenging, 2.1-mile loop from the Macbride Nature and Recreation Area.
Continue 81 miles east to Clinton via the Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway, which parallels and sometimes follows U.S. Highway 30 through fields of corn and soybeans, forests of hickory and maple, and farm towns founded in the 1830s and ’40s. In DeWitt, in a barn built in 1727, the German Hausbarn Museum documents the daily life of the area’s Schleswig-Holstein German immigrants.