Skip this place if you want fancy amenities. Woodmans Hollow has no paved trails, campgrounds, or flush toilets. It is raw Iowa. Hikers head to this 63-acre preserve in Webster County mainly to trek along a 120-foot-deep sandstone gorge that cuts right down toward the Des Moines River. It feels hidden. Cool air settles in the canyon, creating a weird microclimate where ice-age relics like rare walking ferns cling to damp rock walls.

You actually have to hop over fallen logs and squelch through creek mud to explore it. No boardwalks exist here. Water runs straight down the dirt path after a good rain, so your boots will get filthy. But the payoff is quiet. Birdwatchers show up with binoculars to spot scarlet tanagers and pileated woodpeckers in the canopy high above the sandstone. You won't hear engines. Just rushing water and old-growth trees.