Iowa was the last of the 50 US states I’ve visited, and I got to enter it on foot by crossing the Missouri River. My trip started in Omaha, Nebraska, where I toured a few landmarks before heading to my primary destination much farther north in Iowa. One of those landmarks is the Lewis and Clark Landing that includes the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge crossing over to Council Bluffs, Iowa, from Omaha. It’s an impressive pedestrian bridge with a cable suspension, curves instead of a straight path, 60 foot (20m) height above the river, and a length of 3000 feet (1000m). In the middle there is a conveniently painted line denoting the border of Nebraska and Iowa where I took a picture recording my first step in the state.

While most of my writings include long runs, or extreme conditions, this trip included neither, since I didn’t have the time while visiting multiple locations in two states over just barely 2 days. The trip was also in November, so the daylight hours were not in my favor. While I did not explore them, there are some great long distance running opportunities that start directly from the Bob Kerrey Bridge, such as the Wabash Trace Nature Trail. Runs of nearly any distance are possible given its length, and since it is close to a city, getting an Uber to drive you out to a starting point and running back to your car is very doable. I’d very much consider returning to the area for a run like this.

As I said, I had bigger plans much farther north. My plans included a road trip to the ice cream capital of the world, where I discovered a different kind of sandwich, and also a hilly run in a state where I always assumed there are no hills at all.

I headed north to Le Mars, Iowa after only a couple hours touring Omaha so I could make the drive in the daylight and get to take in the views of the countryside to understand the state better. My expectations were that it’d be as flat and open as the land I saw in North Dakota, however that was not the case at all. The 2 hour drive north, mainly on Interstate 29, is mostly made up of farm fields and the Missouri River to the left, and then to the right are the Loess Hills rising 200 feet (60m) from the flat farmland. These hills are in a narrow band for about 200 miles (320 km), extending up to South Dakota.

My focus on my first day was ice cream. And Le Mars, Iowa, is the place to go if you want to be around where a lot of it is made. Le Mars is known as the Ice Cream Capital of the World since more ice cream is made here than any other location on earth. The best place to try the locally made ice cream is at the Wells Visitor Center and Ice Cream Parlor. I got a simple caramel sundae with vanilla ice cream. Simple, yet a very rich and smooth ice cream. The Ice Cream Parlor is just a couple blocks from the downtown hotel I stayed at, The Inn on Central. I also heard about a sandwich unique to this area of the country, the Tavern sandwich, so I walked over to Bob’s Drive-Inn (open since 1949) to have one. It’s like a Sloppy Joe, but without the tomato based sauce. It was super tasty, so it is unclear to me why it wouldn’t catch on in other parts of the country.

After a good night's sleep, I woke up early to get coffee, and a fresh made iced cinnamon bun at Habitue Coffeehouse. I had to work for most of the morning so got a late start heading south, but still had plenty of time to get the runs in before sundown. And, starting late meant it was now lunchtime, so on the way south I stopped in Sioux City, Iowa and went to a restaurant that’s been in operation for over 100 years, the Milwaukee Wiener House. I got three hot dogs, one with chili, one with just cheese, and one with sauerkraut. A very satisfying meal!

OK, enough about eating, time for the runs. I continued to drive south, back towards Omaha. The ultimate destination of the day was the Hitchcock Nature Center, but I took a driving detour and came across a quick run, offering some splendid views, Brent’s Trail. I just ran a mile of its 8 miles, but that was enough to get a view from the top of the contrast between the Loess Hills and the flat land that runs right up to it.

After Brent’s trail, I headed to the Hitchcock Nature Center. I originally came across it since it is the site of The Hitchcock Experience (100 mile, 50 mile, and a half marathon option). It is pretty amazing that this race fits in a 12.5-mile loop into the area where I ran about 8, and in those 12.5 miles, the elevation gain is about 5000 feet (1500m). That’s a lot. The trails are very runnable, the ascents and descents are steep, but the footing is always good, and the trails are easy to navigate. I saw a handful of people out with dogs and kids, so can imagine it gets very busy whenever the weather is good.

Iowa once again proved that there are fun things to do in nature nearly anywhere you go. I just got to experience its very western edge, but there are also thousands of miles of dirt roads throughout the rest of Iowa where many have been mapped out for rides.

While I didn’t do any ultrarunning on this trip, I enjoyed running at the site of one of the state’s biggest ultra races, learning more about the unique geography of Iowa, enjoying some local food options such as the tavern sandwich, and getting in some miles on hilly forest trails. If you find yourself in Omaha, definitely take an extra day to explore the Loess Hills, and even stop by the Ice Cream Capital of the World to get a scoop.