One of the advantages of traveling the country is finding those places and things along the way that you never knew existed. Sure it’s fun to visit the popular sites like Yellowstone, The Grand Canyon, Mt Rushmore, etc, but those hidden gems, the places you really don’t hear much about because they are off the beaten path, those are the things I think we enjoy most. And this trip did not disappoint!
We discovered one of those hidden gems as we were traveling along I80 in Iowa, heading back east in the spring of 2022 after spending the winter in the warmth of the southwest. As we were cruising along, we passed a sign that said “John Wayne’s Birthplace Museum next exit”. What?!
Now you have to understand something. My husband Jeff is the world’s biggest John Wayne fan, in fact I have been staring at a portrait of The Duke in the living room of our sticks and bricks for most of our 30 years of marriage, (it now resides in our off grid cabin in Upstate NY) if he had his way it would be hanging in our coach right now but thankfully we have no wall space for it!
So when we saw the sign it was all he could do not to take the exit and check it out. But we were kind of on a deadline to get back to New York, so we put it at the top of our list to visit the next time we were in the area. Well it just so happened that we were in the area in October of 2022 so we added it to our route and headed that way.
WINTERSET IOWA
Winterset, Iowa, is a charming small town located in the heart of Madison County, just 35 miles south west of Des Moines and known for its covered bridges, historic downtown, and picturesque countryside. Despite its small size, we discovered that there are plenty of things to do in Winterset Iowa, especially if you are into John Wayne, covered bridges and cultural experiences.
The John Wayne Birthplace Museum is located in the heart of Winterset, a town which is right out of a Normal Rockwell painting. It is everything you would expect from a small town in the middle of Iowa. A quaint main street area, a nice grocery store, laundromat and even a quilting museum. If you are not into John Wayne, you can check out the quilting museum while hubby gets his fill of John Wayne a couple of blocks away. Travel note, if you are going there, go in early October when the leaves are at their peak. The scenery will be even more spectacular. We were there toward the end of peak leaf season but it was still very pretty.
We stayed at the Winterset City Campground which is open April 1st through November 15th and has 40 full hookup RV sites and five tent camping sites. It’s conveniently located close to everything in town. Reservations open January 1st for the season. We were there in late October and had no problem getting reservations a few days before we arrived. The RV sites are around $22 a night and big enough for any size rig. There is also a bathhouse with showers, although we didn’t check those out. The only drawback to the campground is that behind it is a landscape rock business so you hear heavy machinery all day long, but you will probably be out seeing the sights all day so it be a big deal. Fortunately they seem to quit by 6pm and don’t work on the weekends. To be honest after a day there we really didn’t notice. Other than that the campground is pretty quiet. The sites are fairly level and not too close together. And if you have dogs, get a site on the outside of the loop because there is plenty of grassy area for your dogs to stretch their legs.
JOHN WAYNE BIRTHPLACE MUSEUM
So as it turns out, Winterset Iowa is the birthplace of Marion Robert Morrison better known as John Wayne. He was born here and lived here until he was seven when his family moved to California. The home where he was born is still standing and was the site of the museum for years until the new, larger building was built in 2014.
Although the museum is not affiliated with the John Wayne Estate or the John Wayne Cancer Foundation, the Wayne family has provided memorabilia to the museum and the short into video is narrated by his daughter also, family members have attended many events at the museum.
The museum features self-guided tour with docents stationed around the building to answer questions and provide information. If you are any kind of John Wayne fan, or even western movie buff, you will enjoy walking around the rooms and taking in all of the movie props, costumes and photos. Some of the highlights are The Duke’s car complete with extended roof so he could drive it around with his cowboy hat on! There are costumes and memorabilia from most of his most famous roles including a huge display dedicated to The Alamo.
Did you know that John Wayne had custom coffee mugs made for every movie he was in? He presented them to the entire cast and crew. There is a nice display of all of the mugs, if you can get your hands on one, they are worth thousands of dollars.
After you finish touring the museum, you can walk over to his childhood home which has been completely restored and was the original home of the museum. The furnishings in the home are not original but are from the same period and are meant to closely represent how the house would have been furnished at the time. The docent that was there when we were there was very knowledgeable and was able to answer our questions and provide a lot of back story information.
WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO DO IN WINTERSET
Believe it or not there is more to Winterset than just The Duke. Winterset is located in Madison County (yes THAT Madison County) so you can take a drive and visit most of the covered bridges referenced in the movie. In fact, Madison County Covered Bridge Festival is held every October. This festival celebrates the town's unique covered bridges, which were built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and are now recognized as National Historic Landmarks. During the festival, you can take guided tours of the bridges, enjoy live music and entertainment, sample local food and wine, and participate in a variety of fun activities for all ages. One of the bridges is located in the city park adjacent to the campground so you can just walk over and check it out. The other bridges are a short drive from the campground, some you can drive through others are blocked off so you can only walk through them.
There is also a stone tower you can walk or drive to, we opted to drive, because ya we’re lazy! It’s a nice little windy drive up to the tower. Once there you can walk to the top and enjoy the view, which is spectacular during the peak of the fall colors.
All of that touring will kick up quite a thirst, luckily there is a winery and cidery just outside of town. We did not have time to go to the winery but we did check out the cidery and found the cider to be excellent. We enjoyed our flight of cider on their outdoor deck while taking in the spectacular view. If the weather is nice bring a lawn chair to enjoy your cider as the deck is rather small and fills up fast. They have live music and food trucks during the warmer months. It’s a nice place to hand out.
We originally planned to stay in Winterset three days but we ended up extending our stay another two days because we enjoyed it so much. This quiet, laid back town is a perfect stay to take a break from the road and just chill, with a bonus of several attractions to enjoy while you’re there.
For more information:
On the Winterset City Campground: https://cityofwinterset.org/park-recreation-department/city-park-campground/
The John Wayne Birthplace Museum: https://www.johnwaynebirthplace.museum/
