The Loess Hills Visitors Center & Gift Shop is a nonprofit, volunteer organization, located along the Loess Hills Scenic Byway in Moorhead. Our unique location at the eastern foot of the Loess Hills places us in some of the most rugged, historic, least-populated and rural areas of the Loess Hills.

The ancient Loess Hills were formed 18,000 years ago of windblown soil and called Loess (pronounced "Luss").  During the time that glaciers were retreating northward, the winds whipped the dried powdery soils into the air and deposited them in huge dunes of loess along the present Missouri River flood plains.  Since then, the running water and wind erosion have formed the sharp angles and deep ravines seen today.  Loess deposits are 200 feet in places.  The only bluffs of similar magnitude found today are in northern China.

The Loess Hills Visitors Center & Gift Shop is a volunteer organization which promotes education, economic development and tourism in and about the Loess Hills of Western Iowa.  The Loess Hills Visitors Center & Gift Shop provides tourist maps, information about sites of interest and sells many products, both handmade and purchased items, which bear the Loess Hills logo.