"We have not inherited the Earth from our fathers, but are borrowing it from our children."                         -Native American Proverb
 

• the soil and it's unique properties
• the plants
• the wildlife
• the history
• the archeology
• the paleontology

and the people who lived in the Hills, who love them and want to protect them.

Pronounced "luss", these steeply sloping bluffs are noted for their composition of silty, buff-colored, windblown soil and their depth of over 200 feet.  Only in China are there loess deposits of greater depth.

Iowa's Loess Hills had their origin in a very different environment than China's desert derived loess.  The Loess Hills of western Iowa are a product of the Illinoian and Wisconsinian glacial period when huge quantities of wind-blown dust called loess accumulated to depths of over 200 feet.  Great masses of ice "milled the flour" which was to become the parent material of the Hills' formation.  Exposed across a vast river valley, now called the Missouri, huge quantities of this loess "flour" was picked up and carried by prevailing westerly winds.  Mounds of loess came to rest in a coastline of hills along the Missouri River extending from Fremont county in the south to Plymouth county in the north.  Most of the loess deposits occurred between 18,000 and 150,000 years ago.

The Loess Hills were created over thousands of years by continuous loess deposition.  Since then running water and erosion have formed the sharp angles and deep ravines seen today.  With little vegetation to hold it, the soil dissolved like sugar.  Spurs, ridges, valleys and ravines formed to give the Hills its distinct character.  Once Bohumil Shimek stated that "the Hills appear like the giant swell of a stormy sea which has been suddenly fixed."

The ridges of these present day waves, facing south and westward, have evolved into dry prairies.  Saved by the grace of being too steep to graze or plow, they represent most of Iowa's surviving native prairie.  Unique and rare plant and animal species found no where else in Iowa are native to the Loess Hills.  These areas are among the most scenic and the most endangered.

Debates continue over land-use issues in the Loess Hills, but one thing remains clear, they are a world class wonder.  Strategies for management issues are being discusses among the people of the Loess Hills in an effort to preserve the future of the landscape and its native species read more about it  --  Land of the Fragile Giants by Cornelia Mutel.
 

The Loess Hills National Scenic Byway, Iowa's first Scenic Byway, forms a spine with several excursion loops throughout the Hills formation.  This Byway was designated one of the Nation's top ten Scenic Byways and gives a taste of the Loess Hills' many components, from small towns to metropolitan areas, wilderness, vistas, culture, history, and geology.

The scenic byway main route, or spine, consists of 220 miles of paved highway or county road in a general north to south direction paralleling Interstate 29.  When traveling on the scenic byway, the traveler has the option of selecting 13 excursion routes for additional experiences.

For further information, contact the Missouri Valley Chamber of Commerce at 712-642-2553 or the Harrison County Welcome Center at 712-642-2114.  Tours are also offered by the Loess Hills Hospitality Association at 712-886-5441.  Information is also available by visiting the  website for more information.