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Turkey River Run

Turkey River Run is 34.9 miles of loop riding through Winneshiek and Fayette Counties in Iowa — Driftless Iowa, the Upper Iowa, the Yellow River country and the climbs out of the Mississippi. Moving time is about 46 minutes; allow 65 with stops — a half morning. It is scored CS-2, Easy: 40 corners, 107° of turning per mile, 1,098 feet of climbing. The roads it uses, in the order you ride them, are in the app.

Curviness
CS-2Easy · 1.15/mi
Distance
34.9 mi46 min riding
Corners
4048% sharp · Tight
Climbing
1,098 ft32 ft/mi · Gentle
Shape
LoopHalf morning
Roads
Backroads95% county & local
Traffic
—no published counts
Speed limit
55 mphtypically 55
Open this route in the app

About this road

Early travelers noticed the wild turkeys along this river, and the name stuck. Today the Turkey River remains one of the Driftless Area’s scenic tributaries—bluffs, clear water, and quiet roads that stay close to its course through Winneshiek and Fayette counties. The land is still clearly carved but a degree gentler than the deepest Yellow River country. Farms occupy the ridges; woodland fills the valleys. The Turkey River is never far from view or from mind. Climbs are honest without being extreme; the scenery is continuous rather than concentrated at a single overlook. This loop rewards a steady pace and an eye for small shifts in vegetation, rock, and light. It’s a ride that feels complete without needing to be difficult—a good day in country that still follows the logic of the Turkey River.

How it rides

40 corners over 34.9 miles — 1.15 a mile, and 107° of turning for every mile ridden. That scores CS-2, Easy on the five-point curviness scale. 48% of those corners are sharp ones, and the road reads as tight.

What it climbs

The road climbs 1,098 feet in total, 32 feet per mile, between 1,010 and 1,286 feet — 276 feet of relief. The longest single climb is 111 feet over 2.0 miles, and the steepest grade on it is 6.4%. By Driftless standards that is gentle.

Surface, speed and traffic

96.2% paved — the rest is gravel or seal coat, so check the surface before you commit. 95% of it is back road rather than highway, the other 5% state or US route. Posted speeds run to 55 mph, typically 55, measured across 28% 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 — 1 fuel.

Longest stretch without fuel: 34.1 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