Outdoor Recreation
State Parks
Iowa has an impressive network of state parks that offer a variety of activities, including camping, fishing, hiking, swimming, and more!
Nestled in some of the most beautiful countryside you’ll ever experience, the Prosperity Eastern Iowa region is home to five of Iowa’s state parks: Bellevue State Park, Maquoketa Caves State Park, Backbone State Park, Mines of Spain State Recreation Area and E. B. Lyons Nature Center, and Wapsipinicon State Park.
Conservation Areas and Parks
Conservation boards are local natural resource management and outdoor recreation agencies whose responsibilities are to acquire, develop, maintain and make available public museums, parks, preserves, parkways, playgrounds, recreation centers, forests, wildlife and other conservation areas, to encourage the orderly development and conservation of natural resources and to provide adequate programs of public recreation.
Conservation boards also help educate local residents about the natural world in which we live, and administer roadside vegetation management programs. Visit the boards for Clinton County, Delaware County, Dubuque County, and Jackson County.
Iowa Wine Trail
Visit the unique Iowa Wine Trail as it traverses the upper Mississippi Valley wine region at Lisbon, Baldwin, Anamosa, Bankston, Marquette, and Decorah. While sampling well-crafted wines and ciders, you’ll experience heritage farms and vineyards, a hilltop chateau, nestled river village, and tasting rooms where knowledge about winemaking is amply shared.
Enjoy the region’s designated scenic byways, alpine hills, and cold water streams. This exquisite hill country was spared from recent glaciers thus leaving for us soils, slopes, caves and aquifers well-suited for drainage, circulation, and sun to produce the best grapes.
Field of Dreams
“Is this Heaven? No, it’s Iowa.” Filmed near Dyersville, Iowa, and released in 1989, Field of Dreams is a movie that has inspired millions and became an Academy Award nominee for “Best Picture of the Year.”
People young and old from every comer of the globe believe in the Field of Dreams and its ambassadors, the Ghost Players. Welcome to this home, this farm, this baseball field, this little piece of heaven on earth. Welcome to this place where reality mixes with fantasy and dreams can come true.
Scenic Byways
You’ll look into America’s past, present, and future when you join travelers from around the world to discover dramatic vistas of Old Man River during all seasons. View soaring eagles and migrating geese and ducks. Experience Midwest hospitality on the main streets of river towns and cities, or visit sacred sites and landscape effigies of Native Americans. You can also experience the Mississippi River on steamboats, commercial barges, and recreational crafts.Visual pleasures abound as you discover historic treasures in the rolling landscape.
You’ll experience natural beauty at its finest in the Prosperity Eastern Iowa region as it is home to a National Scenic Byway, The Great River Road, as well as two Iowa Scenic Byways, the Delaware Crossing Scenic Byway and the Grant Wood Scenic Byway.
Golf Courses
The Prosperity Eastern Iowa region is home to approximately 30 public and private golf courses and practice ranges. Whether you are a beginner looking for a par-3 course or an advanced player seeking a challenge, you will be sure to find a course to your liking.
Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area
Farming is as American as the apple pie it puts on your table. And the rich story of American agriculture is powerful. Our wealth and world leadership are due in part to farms and farm-related industries that Iowa typifies. Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area is one of 23 federally designated heritage areas in the nation and is an Affiliated Area of the National Park Service.
Skiing
Yes, you can downhill ski and snowboard in Iowa! From the beginner’s slope to the challenging Gun Barrel and the Terrain Park, you’ll find a great time at Sundown Mountain. Cross-country skiing is also available at various sites around the region, including some of the state parks.