Ask Mr. Answer Person: "Will the Lower Dam on the Upper Iowa River ever become more of a tourist attraction?"

Lynn e-mails Mr. Answer Person: "I love the beauty of lower dam on the Upper Iowa River. It is just beautiful. It is not being utilized as a tourist attraction. I do wish Decorah would make it more of an attraction for all to love. I hate the road that gets you there. Will Decorah ever find a different access so tourists can easily get to the site?"

Mr. Answer Person says: "There's one important fact you've gotten wrong--the dam isn't owned by the City of Decorah or even by Winneshiek County, it's owned by the Iowa DNR. Likewise, the land surrounding the dam and the land on which the road runs is owned by the State of Iowa under one department or another.

There has been an extensive reconstruction project in the past year or so that involved the banks below the dam.  The road to the dam is the same, uh, "exciting" road that you mention. It seems very, very unlikely that the State of Iowa would spend additional money on paving the road to the Lower Dam to turn it into a tourist attraction.

Look at it this way--you have your own "secret" tourism spot in NE Iowa!