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IOWA’S BYWAYS Library of Congress Rare Book
This year’s route takes us along and across and Special Collections Division
many of Iowa’s scenic byways, including the
Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway, Iowa Valley DAY 1 - GLENWOOD TO ATLANTIC
Scenic Byway, Western Skies Scenic Byway and
the Dragoon Trail. The first day of our ride we
cross over the Loess Hills National Scenic Byway.
The Loess Hills are a unique geological formation
made almost entirely of very fine windblown soils
deposited toward the end of the last ice age,
thousands of years ago. This natural wonder ex-
tends all the way from St. Joseph, Missouri, to
north of Sioux City, Iowa, encompassing an area approximately 200 miles long and up
to 15 miles wide. Although there are loess deposits throughout the world, only China
can boast higher loess hills than those found in Iowa. The Loess Hills National Scenic
Byway, which spans the entire length of the loess hills, began in 1989 as a grass roots
effort in cooperation with Golden Hills Resource and Conservation Development, Inc.
and the Western Iowa Tourism Region. It became an Iowa Scenic Byway in 1998 and
later received recognition as a National Scenic Byway in 2000. The Loess Hills National
Scenic Byway takes you on an incredible journey through 12,000 years of western
Iowa culture and history, and includes a wide array of archaeological and historical
sites, museums, nature preserves, state parks and wildlife areas.

HITCHCOCK HOUSE
On day one of our ride, about 1.5 miles east of the route near the town of Lewis,
is the Rev. George B. Hitchcock House. Rev. Hitchcock was an ardent abolitionist, and
his home is recognized as a stop along the Underground Railroad. Built in 1855, Rev.
Hitchcock lived there until 1865, and conducted antislavery activities by harboring fu-
gitive slaves in a secret room in the basement. After the war, Rev. Hitchcock moved to
Missouri where he was minister to freed slaves and whites alike. The Hitchcock House
was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2006, a designation given to fewer than
2500 historic places nationally, and is 1 of only 24 in Iowa.

Abolitionist symbol Hitchcock House