Schools

Landlocked U? No, University of Iowa Makes List of Top Schools for Outdoor Adventurers

Iowa doesn't often come to mind for the adventurous type, or maybe it does. University of Iowa made the list of top "Outdoor Universities."

Here's a ranking I bet University of Iowa will take, even if it's a little unexpected.

University of Iowa is among the best places in the country for people who like the outdoors, according to a new list called "Outdoor University." The list comes from Outside Magazine, which assembled "the top 25 colleges for Outside readers."

To be more specific, these are colleges for people who like "adventure, grit, sweat, a worthy struggle, tested endurance, goosebump-inducing views, wide-open skies, maybe some roiling water."

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comes in at No. 19. It's a bit more wholesome than the other ranking that came out last week: in the country.

While you may think of Iowa as a flat, landlocked state, University of Iowa students have a lot of opportunities. For one, Lake MacBride State Park is right up the road and offers hiking, mountain biking, cross-country skiing, camping and sailing, among others.

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UI houses "Touch the Earth," which works with the university's lifetime-leisure skills program in the recreational services department, to run adventure trips all over the country, such as rock climbing in Moab, UT, sea kayaking in the Everglades in Florida and hiking in the Grand Canyon. Some trips are offered for college credit while others are for straight-up adventure.

For the last few years, I've taught a for-credit backpacking class on the Appalachian Trail, through UI's recreational service department. It is part of a cluster of alternate-spring break adventure classes the university offers.

Touch the Earth also rents outdoor gear for just about any adventure you can think of within a 12-hour drive.

University of Iowa has a few other perks as well, including a 52-foot climbing wall in the brand-new Campus Recreation and Wellness Center, miles of trails on campus, a raptor center and the school even plays host to an intensive wilderness medicine training put on by the NOLS Wilderness Medicine Institute.

"Hawks don’t let the fact that Iowa’s a landlocked state hold them back," the Outside review says. "With the Iowa River running right through campus and Lake MacBride State Park a 20-minute drive away, they’ve got plenty of ways to get in the drink."

University of California-Berkeley came in at No. 1 in the ranking.


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