(5) Mills County 10.9.2020

On this weekend County Trip adventure, we first stopped in the intriguing town of Malvern in Mills County.

Malvern has a really cute downtown area that we did not have time to stop and shop around, but you could easily spend an afternoon here! We did get to stop and take some pictures in front of the famous metalwork trees done by a local artist, Woody Jones.

 

 

This same artist’s nephew, Zack Jones, has bought an old church, now rightfully named, “Art Church” and is currently creating a mural on the entire inside of the church with an AirBNB in the basement. The mural in this church is absolutely breathtaking. This alone makes Mills County a worthwhile stop.

 

Next stop was the Mills County Historical Museum in Glenwood. This museum complex would be great to visit. Unfortunately, we went in the middle of COVID so all of the buildings except for the main exhibit building were closed. The museum is right in the city park which makes for a nice stop with kids.

 

 Also in Glenwood is the Sugar Makery- ice cream, soda pop, and candy store galore! This was a fun little stop!

 

After filling up on sweets we headed to the Pony Creek Nature Center, which might be one of the most interactive nature centers we’ve been to. It’s newly remodeled and the conservationist was so friendly and brought out multiple animals- including a skunk- for the kids to touch and hold!

 

From the Pony Creek Nature Center, we went on a short hike and got our first full view of the Loess Hills- beautiful.

 

Mills County is the location of a large Native American settlement and archeological site. Part of the archeological site is the Glenwood Archeological State Preserve, which had a nicely paved loop to hike around. It was a beautiful setting for a hike.

 

Return Rating: 4

Other things to see/do:

• Hillsdale Lily Garden, Glenwood
• Malvern Depot, Malvern