Driving along Iowa’s scenic highways is the best way to get a sense of the lonesome beauty of the seemingly endless American plains. Most of Iowa is agricultural land, but the 5,000-acre Neal Smith National Wildlife refuge gives visitors a sense of what the state was like before the European immigrants appeared and herds of Elk and Bison roamed the plains in numbers that dwarf today’s herds. Cities like Des Moines and Sioux City may not be urban giants, but they’re friendly towns with a sense of history.