99 Counties to tour on the bike, 99 counties to tour, take one down, drive on around, 56 counties to tour on the bike. A few years back, a summer riding goal was to ride through each one of the counties of Iowa, and what was found was a wealth of interest and beauty. Each month I will revisit each county as a featured article. I will tell you about new things to see, places to ride, and give you a little spark of touring curiosity for our state of Iowa. Harrison County Iowa
interest in trains, it is worth a stop. The city park it is located in has a war memorial and a great area to picnic in. The depot can keep you busy for quite some time and if you’re lucky you can even ride a train! If you are feeling a little thirsty before you head out of town swing into Papa Joe’s on 6th Street. The place is immaculately clean, the drinks are reasonable priced and you can play bar Olympics! I then headed north out of Missouri Valley on L20, also known as the Loess Hills Trail, you will see some great scenery as well as stumble upon the Loess Hills Lavender
Wow, what can I say besides WOW! Harrison County Iowa is a magnificent combination of beauty and hospitality. The views, the people, the interesting stops along the way. Take the time to waunder around, don’t follow a route, just go where the views take you. Harrison County is a little larger then most Iowa Counties, was formed in 1851 and named after President William H. Harrison. There are ten little towns with Logan being the County seat. Thanks to the Ice Ages Harrison County has a large stretch of the Loess Hills, these are spots where loess soil has been deposited due to glaciers melting and wind erosion.
farm. Mr. Hamer and his wife Mary have grown this farm to what it is today but Mr. Hamer says Mary “found every way to kill lavender before she finaly figured out how to grow the stuff!” After smelling the fragrent lavender I kept on north to Hwy 127 east to L23 and then south. The views were incredible and it also led me to the Sawmill Hollow Family Farm. They were the first aronia berry farm in North America. Aronia berries are a supper fruit, it will heal what ailes ya! Scootching on north on 183 you will come into Pisgah. They have a business in town that just plain fascinated me. It is called The Sportsman. It is a gas station/grocery store/deli/bar. It is a bit of a My joyride started in Missouri hunters paradise complete with visits from Ted Nugent. The Valley and took me to the gals that work there were super Cornstalk Café for a soda, it is friendly and made my stop out by I29 at the truck stop. The enjoyable! kind of place with a common table for all the coffee guys. I grabbed F20L east out of town Not too far east into town I and took it to Woodbine. I was found the Watson Station & lucky enough to discover the Steam Train Museum. If you Brick Street Brewery. They are or anyone you know has any a new microbrewery started by a 14 - TRMI DECEMBER 2013
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