25 Ultimate Fall Drives
To celebrate Midwest Living’s 25th anniversary, we chose our all-time favorite fall drives, the ones showcasing the best of the season and the region. All our drives deliver memorable scenery, towns, restaurants and lodgings. You’ll see familiar routes, plus a few surprises.
Iowa: Amana Colonies (Plus!)
A bucolic harvest landscape unfurls along this 50-mile east-central Iowa drive: red barns, hay bales and laundry flapping on clotheslines. Start with a gooey pecan roll in the Amish community of Kalona, then keep an eye out for buggies as you follow State-22 and Black Hawk Avenue to the seven historic villages of the Amana Colonies. After a day of shopping and Wiener schnitzel, take US-6 to Fireside Winery in Marengo for a glass of dry Cordovan by the crackling fire.
Easy alternative A section of the Iowa Valley Scenic Byway loops around the Amana Colonies and makes a lovely mini drive if you want to skip Kalona and Marengo. In West Amana, the road climbs a bit for a nice view.
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