Southwest Iowa

Southwest Iowa covers the southwestern quarter of the state, the Loess Hills and rolling prairie country running from the Missouri River east through Atlantic and Red Oak. The terrain is dominated by the Loess Hills along the western edge — wind-deposited silt up to 200 feet thick — with the rest of the region opening into rolling agricultural country drained by the West Nishnabotna and Nodaway rivers. Eleven counties cover the region. Pottawattamie holds Council Bluffs, the largest city and gateway between Iowa and Omaha; Cass holds Atlantic; Page holds Shenandoah and Clarinda (Glenn Miller’s birthplace); Montgomery holds Red Oak; Adair holds Greenfield. Lake Manawa State Park sits in Council Bluffs; the historic Mormon Trail crosses through Pottawattamie. Most trips here run agricultural-and-historical. Council Bluffs handles the Lewis and Clark interpretive sites and the Hitchcock House (a stop on the Underground Railroad); Glenn Miller’s birthplace in Clarinda runs an annual June festival; Greenfield’s Iowa Aviation Museum and the Adams County Speedway pull motorsports visitors; the Mormon Pioneer Trail markers fill the Pottawattamie itinerary.