Excerpted from Mountain Biking the Great Plain States by Andy Knapp

The Mississippi River and its tributaries dominate the geography of eastern Iowa, carving spectacular bluffs and picturesque river valleys that feature hardwood forests of hickory, elm, and oak. The landscape is scattered with"postcard" vistas of well kept farms and quiet rural communities that are the defining image of life in Iowa. The northeastern corner of Iowa was not scraped smooth by the Pleistocene glaciation and is now the most hilly, most eroded part of the state, an area tourist brochures like to compare with the pastoral hills of Switzerland.

Biking trail in the Sugar Bottom Recreation Area.Photo courtesy of the Iowa Coalition of Off-Road Bikers

All the interior rivers of the region drain southeastward to the Mississippi. The major cities of the region date back to the days of river commerce and water power and are all found on these rivers. Burlington, Davenport, and Dubuque are old Mississippi River towns, and Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, and Waterloo are interior cities on the Iowa and Cedar Rivers. Despite a century and a half of development, these river corridors still provide many natural areas where deer, wild turkeys, and bald eagles may be spotted.

Move on to Geode State Park Return to Top

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