The northwest region of Iowa is bordered by the Big Sioux and Missouri Rivers on the west, the Interstate 35 corridor to the east, the Iowa Great Lakes recreational area and the Minnesota border on the north, and gently rolling farmland to the south.

The metropolitan area of Sioux City, named an Iowa "Great Place," offers a revitalized downtown and an active arts community. Lake Okoboji and Spirit Lake attract year-round visitors for boating, camping, fishing and biking. The windblown Loess Hills follow the vast Missouri River Valley and provide a backdrop for hiking and nature studies. The region is also home to Coon Rapids, one of three Great Places pilot communities, and to Storm Lake, a diverse and dynamic town.

Many communities of NW Iowa interpret early immigrant and pioneer life through museum displays, heritage festivals, and renovations of log cabins, one-room schoolhouses, and horse-drawn machinery, including an 1860s military fort at Fort Dodge. Attend the annual Donna Reed Performing Arts Festival in Denison, the Tulip Festival in Orange City, or tour Winnebago Industries in Forest City, the largest motor home manufacturing facility in the world.

The northwest Iowa region covers 25 of Iowa’s 99 counties, including: Buena Vista, Calhoun, Carroll, Cherokee, Clay, Crawford, Dickinson, Emmet, Hancock, Humboldt, Ida, Kossuth, Lyon, Monona, O’Brien, Osceola, Palo Alto, Pocahontas, Plymouth, Sac, Sioux, Webster, Winnebago, Woodbury and Wright.