Plymouth County: Loess Hills, Prairie, and Le Mars

The landscape around Plymouth County offers striking contrasts: Five Ridge Prairie lies at the northern end of the Loess Hills and covers 790 acres. Narrow ridges alternate with deep, wooded valleys. Broken Kettle Grasslands contains the largest remaining prairie in Iowa.

Scenery and Routes

Plymouth County is the northernmost county along the Loess Hills National Scenic Byway. The route offers panoramic views of fertile farmland in the Missouri River valley, wooded hills, and extensive grasslands. The landscape highlights different features: ridges and wooded valleys define the scenery at Five Ridge Prairie, while the Byway focuses on wide-open views and Broken Kettle Grasslands on prairie. If you’d like to include nature experiences in your travel plans, you’ll find several distinct landscape themes here.

Outdoor Activities

Willow Creek Golf Course has three courses on the same property: Green Course, Black Course, and Red Course. The Le Mars Recreational Trail also starts at the golf course and follows the Floyd River. It’s suitable for cycling, hiking, and observing nature. This lets you plan the three named golf courses as one type of activity, and the riverside trail, with its range of uses, as another.

Another option is disc golf at West Floyd Disc Golf Course. The course is mostly open, but also has some wooded holes and gentle elevation changes; there’s a river in play, too. You can compare the features of this course with the choice of three named golf courses at Willow Creek without equating the sports or their requirements.

Culture, History, and Memorials

The Plymouth County Historical Museum is housed in historic Old Central High School. As a separate point of comparison, the Loess Hills Interpretive Center features exhibits in a former one-room schoolhouse at the intersection of Union and Linden Streets. Together, these places showcase different historic buildings, while the exhibits at the Interpretive Center are specifically housed in a former schoolhouse.

Le Mars has a British heritage connected to English, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh communities. The Plymouth County Veterans Memorial in Le Mars features monuments, sculptures, and military artifacts; it also includes tributes to all branches of the armed forces. The British heritage and the memorial offer different points of focus: the history associated with four communities here, and remembrance of military service there.

Performances, Ice Cream, and Event Dates

The Browns Music Theater’s program includes a variety of music shows, special guests, comedians, Broadway-style musicals, and dinner theater experiences. Individual performances vary by season. A buffet is served before every show, beginning 1.5 hours before the performance. If a particular performance is a deciding factor for you, check the program and dates before your trip.

The Wells Visitor Center and Ice Cream Parlor combines interactive exhibits for all ages with ice cream specialties. You may be invited to sample some; more than 40 flavors of ice cream are available, though the selection may change. For your plans, this offers a different focus from the Browns Music Theater: there, the focus is on performances and dinner theater; here, on exhibits and ice cream.

Le Mars’s annual events also provide a guide to when to visit. Christmas in Hometown Le Mars takes place on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Another four-day event is held annually from Wednesday to Saturday over Father’s Day weekend and includes family activities, live entertainment, and ice cream. The two occasions take place at different times of year and each offers a different program. If you’d like to plan your trip around an event, check the specific event dates.

Discover more destinations: Le Mars, Clarke County, Polk, Story, Audubon, Hardin County, O'Brien County, Sioux County.

For the main travel overview: Iowa.