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Springwater and the Upper Iowa

Springwater and the Upper Iowa is 27.8 miles of loop riding through Winneshiek County in Iowa — Driftless Iowa, the Upper Iowa, the Yellow River country and the climbs out of the Mississippi. Moving time is about 39 minutes; allow 55 with stops — a quick spin. It is scored CS-4, Twisty: 46 corners, 152° of turning per mile, 1,468 feet of climbing. The roads it uses, in the order you ride them, are in the app.

Curviness
CS-4Twisty · 1.65/mi
Distance
27.8 mi39 min riding
Corners
4654% sharp · Tight
Climbing
1,468 ft53 ft/mi · Relentless
Shape
LoopQuick spin
Roads
Backroads100% county & local
Traffic
—no published counts
Speed limit
55 mphtypically 55
Open this route in the app

About this road

The name Springwater is literal. Cold springs rise from the rock and feed the Upper Iowa, giving the river its clear, reliable flow. The roads are tight, twisty, and steep—classic Upper Iowa country in compact form. They follow the land’s own logic: ridges for through travel, coulees for the scenic and technical sections. Stopping at a visible spring lets you feel the cold water that has traveled through the limestone until it had nowhere else to go. That pulse is the quiet engine of the region. There is little recovery terrain; the geometry stays demanding. If you enjoy continuous engagement with both the road and the water that shapes it, the Springwater country along the Upper Iowa is especially rewarding. A concentrated dose of everything that makes this watershed distinctive.

How it rides

46 corners over 27.8 miles — 1.65 a mile, and 152° of turning for every mile ridden. That scores CS-4, Twisty on the five-point curviness scale. 54% of those corners are sharp ones, and the road reads as tight.

What it climbs

The road climbs 1,468 feet in total, 53 feet per mile, between 861 and 1,277 feet — 417 feet of relief. The longest single climb is 351 feet over 2.6 miles, and the steepest grade on it is 7.9%. By Driftless standards that is relentless.

Surface, speed and traffic

79.5% paved — the rest is gravel or seal coat, so check the surface before you commit. 100% of it is back road rather than highway. Posted speeds run to 55 mph, typically 55, measured across 55% of the route. No published traffic counts cover this route, so it carries no traffic figure rather than a borrowed one.

Where to stop

1 of the towns on this road has somewhere to stop — 3 fuel, 6 food, 2 bars.

Longest stretch without fuel: 27.8 miles. Worth knowing before you set off if your tank is small.

Listed alphabetically, and chosen by us rather than rated by anybody. The order you reach them, and the mile each one sits at, are in the app.

Worth knowing

Turn-by-turn directions and the spoken guidance are in the app. Every figure on this page is measured from the route itself — corner counts and gradients from the road geometry, elevation from the national elevation dataset, traffic from the state transport departments where counts exist.

Nearby roads