(14) Lyon County 8.5.2021

 Lyon, pronounced “Lion” as we were told by a local worker at an ice cream shop, but we digress…

 

We’re going to call this county "the county of off-road exploration." You really have to work to find the sites in this county, but they are definitely worth the sweat and tears! We actually came in from the west on our way back from the Black Hills in South Dakota. Below is a picture of Good Earth State Park which is technically in South Dakota, but it is a wonderful museum that tells the history of Blood Run!

 

Our first stop in Iowa in Lyon County was the Blood Run Native American site on the Iowa side. This was once a city of 10,000 Native Americans from different tribes who had come together to live in peace. Unfortunately, on the Iowa side, there is very little to nothing marked off so prepare yourself for what might feel like random wandering through the prairie hills, looking for potential mounds.

 

Although we aren’t 100% sure we found a mound (since they are not marked), Travis did find the pitted granite rocks that were marked by the Native Americans who once lived there. The rest of us stayed behind while he searched for it because it meant trekking another half mile through the unmarked prairie terrain.  Here is a picture he captured from his phone:

 

Our next off-roading trail-hike was through the Gritchie Manitou State Preserve. There is a lot of history surrounding the Gritchie Manitou State Preserve (some less beautiful than others, we’ll leave that for you to find out in a google search). We were looking for the oldest exposed granite rock in Iowa as well as an old abandoned stone building (not 100% sure what it originally was) that has been graffitied over the years. We will save you the trouble of wandering aimlessly by giving you very specific directions to both the overlook and the building! You will actually enter in from the north corner on the South Dakota border by pulling off the road and parking just off the road. It looks like there is only enough space for 1 vehicle as it is not official parking. This is also right near a house. You will enter the path and after walking about 100 meters, the path will split into 2. If you go to the left (or south), it will take you to the granite overlook by walking another 100 meters or so.

If you go to the right (or west) and walk another mile or so and around a few turns, you will come to the abandoned building. There are graffiti markings along the trees so you will know you are going the right way!

 

 

On our way to Rock Rapids, we happened to drive by Larchwood, which is the home of Cheri Blauwet, a Paralympian Gold Medalist (we love the Olympics, and it happened to be during the 2020 Olympics, so we were pretty stoked!). We also got some yummy refreshments from some kids selling lemonade!

 

Onto Rock Rapids. If you have a chance, we highly recommend you check out the MANY murals painted throughout town. They are amazing. Here are some shots of a few of them!

 

 

 

 

We ate dinner at JJ’s Tasty Drive-In, and it was definitely tasty :)

After filling our stomachs, we checked out the first reinforced concrete bridge in the United States.

 

We then drove across to Island Park before coming back to the mainland and walking across the old train bridge which has now been turned into a pedestrian foot bridge.

Rock Rapids also has the Depot Museum Complex that is supposed to be open on Sundays but unfortunately is no longer regularly opened, which we found out after calling to inquire about visiting. We still stopped by to see it from the outside, and it definitely looks neat!

 

A beautiful sunset across the cornfields of Lyon County wrapped up our day!

 

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Other things to see/do:

• Lake Pahoja, Inwood