This rest area is located on I-80 eastbound at milepost 19 in Iowa. Completed in November 2007 this rest area is part of the Iowa's New Generation of Rest Areas.
This rest area gets its inspiration from the rare environment that surrounds this location. Loess Hills has a German meaning loose or crumbly. The hills in this area were built with the help of the westerly winds that blew across the Missouri River flood plains picking up glacial silt left behind form the last ice age.
Glacial silt was deposited by the wind with out much clay particles. By not having much clay in the soil, the water drainage can support plants like the buffalo berry, Loess Hills fern, soap-weed and skeleton-weed.
Found on the brick that appears as a continuous patterned band around the Rest Area building is the image of a Yucca plant.
The main art sculptures at the entrance symbolize "sections" or contours in the landscape, made of metal, and top part of it lights up at night. As you walk around the rest area you will find other art that has curves found in it.
As you travel along this rest area, let it remind you of the past people that has traveled it in the past. Lewis and Clark led there expedition though here, then it became to be part of the Mormon Trail. The Native Americans considered this area to be a sacred place. Thousands of people traveled this way on their westward journey to get on a steamboat to the up the Missouri River. These people where headed for the Oregon and California trails, and some to the western gold fields.
Later on Council Bluffs became a hub for the railroad Industry. You had Union Pacific R.R that started it's line in Council Bluffs to meet Central Pacific R.R in Utah to become the the first transcontinental railroad in the United States.
This rest area has Wi-fi internet that you can use, pay telephone if you need to use it. Outside you can use charcoal grills to cook your food, and use the picnic shelters to eat under. And if you see my friend the grasshopper mouse, be nice to him. These mice are very helpful in keeping the insects population down. Did you know they will often kill and eat other mice that you see in your house. They also eat centipedes, scorpions, and snakes. Prirty handy to have around, don't be alarmed if you hear a"howling" like a small wolf, they will let you know that they are there.
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