About 35 miles north of Des Moines is the city of Ames, which is best known for Iowa State University (ISU), the largest university in the state and the third-largest in the Big 12.
The campus is big and green, and there are museums, impressive buildings, world-class cultural events, and a lot of varsity sports to watch.
The Campustown district, with its many bars and restaurants, is a good example of the city’s fun, young vibe.
In the east, downtown Ames has its own restaurants, shops, and cultural centres, many of which have been around for decades.
Students who want to study architecture, design engineering, or veterinary medicine should try to get to the city of Ames.
Ames is one of the most beautiful and well-built cities in the United States. It is home to the well-known Iowa State University.
It is also one of the most important cities for agriculture and is home to many animal-related places, such as the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the National Veterinary Services Laboratory, and the National Animal Disease Center.
The city is a great place to visit because it has a busy neighbourhood and people who care about arts and culture.
This is what Things to Do in Ames Iowa.
College of Iowa State
With more than 30,000 students enrolled each year, Iowa State University is a huge part of Ames. With a green campus that is considered one of the most beautiful in the country, it is home to half of the city’s residents.
There are at least five university museums in this area, and some of them are on the list below.
And if you’re going to ISU for a sports or arts event, you’ll probably go to the Iowa State Center, a huge Modernist complex with five venues built between 1969 and 1975.
You can’t miss the solemn, Neoclassical Beardshear Hall, built in 1906. It replaced the Old Main building, which burned down in 1902, and is now home to many of the university’s administrative offices.
Campustown is a busy area southeast of the university. It has restaurants, stores, and nightclubs that cater to young people.
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Reiman Gardens
The beautiful 17-acre botanical garden of Iowa State University is at the south end of the Iowa State Center.
At Reiman Gardens, there is a huge butterfly pavilion where you can watch tens of thousands of colourful and beautiful butterflies fly around.
Flowers from all over the world and from this area are grown in this greenhouse, which makes for a colourful background. There are many Things to Do in Ames Iowa.
It’s open all year, except on holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s.
You can also take a guided tour and learn about nature and how to protect it by going to some of the educational events, programmes, or lectures held here.
There are a lot of beautiful greenhouses and at least a dozen different gardens with a wide range of plants.
This is a place to go all year long, and there are both indoor and outdoor areas. Inside is a large conservatory complex with tropical plants and displays that change with the seasons.
On one side is the Christina Reiman Butterfly Wing, a beautiful indoor tropical garden with butterflies from six continents and amazing emergence cases.
Outside, there is a rose garden with 2,000 plants, a herb garden, a children’s garden with an Iowa theme, a maze garden, and much more.
Admire Art Pieces at the Brunnier Art Museum
The Brunnier Art Museum is one of the best Things to Do in Ames Iowa. It is on the second floor of the Iowa State Center building.
This beautiful museum was started by art lover Henry J. Brunner and his wife. It has a wide range of artworks and showpieces that will amaze visitors.
A National Historic Landmark was given to the whole museum.
The sculpture garden is one of the largest pieces of campus public art in the United States. It has some really beautiful sculptures by well-known artists.
The temporary exhibits change all the time, and the permanent displays are also very pretty.
Furniture, textiles, and silver objects are some of the home decor and art pieces you can look at here.
The museum is free to visit, but you can give a small donation to help keep it in good shape.
Visit the Farm House
The Knapp-Wilson House, also called the Farm House, is a very important and well-known landmark in Ames, Iowa.
This is because it is the oldest building on the campus of the prestigious Iowa State University and was part of the model farm that became the great Things to Do in Ames Iowa.
After it was named a National Historic Landmark in 1964, it became a public museum open to everyone.
Mr. James Wilson and Seaman A. Knapp, two well-known farmers and teachers, used to live in this farmhouse. Because of this, it is an important part of history.
It can also be a great place to go if you like to look at beautiful buildings.
The three-story house is mostly made of bricks, which are made from clay that comes from the area.
The lobby and the rooms inside are also very nice to look at.
Take your kids to Brookside Park to play.
Brookside Park is a beautiful place to spend time with your children.
With volleyball, basketball, and tennis courts, you can spend an evening with your kids having fun and teaching them how to play and run around.
If you want to work on your baseball skills, there is also a baseball field. There are many Things to Do in Ames Iowa.
You can have a fun afternoon with your family in this open space if you bring a picnic with some tasty food, snacks, and cold drinks.
This park has everything you could want, from green grass to tall trees.
There is even a skating park and a wading pool for kids who are younger.
Every day, the park is open.
Brunnier Art Museum
At ISU’s Iowa State Center, there is also the state’s only accredited museum for decorative arts.
The Brunner Art Museum opened in 1975. It is named after Henry J. Brunnier, an Iowa State graduate, and his wife Ann, who gave a huge collection of glass, ceramics, jade, enamels, dolls, and ivory to the museum.
You can see amazing paintings, sculptures, textiles, furniture, woodwork, silver, prints, and much more at travelling exhibitions and shows that use pieces from the University Art Collection. There are many Things to Do in Ames Iowa
The museum also plans talks, gallery tours, conferences, and panel discussions that are very interesting.
Museum of History in Ames
The local history museum in downtown Ames is part of the Smithsonian and has great temporary exhibits that show the history of the city.
At the time this was written, the main exhibit was called Black Trailblazers. It was about nine African-American people who made a difference in Ames, including Jack Trice, George Washington Carver, famous lawyer Walter Madison, and Willa J. Ewing, who was the first African-American woman to graduate from ISU in 1926. There are many Things to Do in Ames Iowa.
The main exhibit is joined by up to six smaller exhibits that cover a wide range of topics, such as the history of medicine in Ames, how electricity is made, and the history of immigration in Iowa.
The Stephens Auditorium
In the same huge complex as the Jack Trice Stadium is a Modernist performing arts venue with 2,734 seats that opened in 1969 and is one of the best cultural centres in the state.
The Stephens Auditorium puts on a great lineup of shows all year that add to Ames’ cultural scene.
This could be opera, a performance by a travelling orchestra, a broadway musical, a play, a famous recording artist, a ballet company, a world-famous comedian, or a show for the whole family.
The sound here is some of the best in the business, and there are no blocked views from any seat.
Christian Petersen Art Museum
When Christian Petersen, a Danish-born sculptor, moved to ISU in 1934, he was the first artist to live at a college or university in the US.
Petersen stayed in Ames for more than 20 years, teaching and making a huge amount of art. He is known as the founder of the Art on Campus Collection at Iowa State University.
The museum that was named after him opened in 2007 and has sculptures by Petersen as well as changing shows of modern art. there are many Things to Do in Ames Iowa
The impressive Morrill Hall, which was built in 1891 in the Romanesque Revival style and renovated in 2005, is where the event will take place.
Furman Aquatic Center
Ames has a great public water park that has been a part of the city’s summers for more than ten years.
The Furman Aquatic Center is on land that ISU owns and leases for free. It has an Olympic-sized lap pool that connects to a huge recreational pool.
There is also a play pool for kids under 6, tube slides, a drop slide, and a long lazy river that feeds a waterfall.
There are about 200 lounge chairs and a lot of plants on the pool deck. The center’s snack bar has four serving windows, so you won’t have to wait long.
Try Camping at McFarland Park
If you’re going to Ames with friends, McFarland Park is a great place to go because it has a one-of-a-kind place for young people to camp.
There is a long hiking path that goes for up to 5.5 miles.
You can also have a great time here by going cycling.
At this park, you can fish in a huge lake that is 6.5 acres big.
The best thing about this park is that it has a lot of different kinds of land, like prairie and woods.
There is also a special path where many different kinds of plants are grown.
The Conservation Center is also very nice, and it is home to many rare and endemic species.
From Monday to Friday, the park is open.
At the Textiles and Clothing Museum, you can learn something new about fashion.
Fashion has always been something that has interested people.
So, it shouldn’t be a surprise that this small museum has come so far. It started out as a small room in the Iowa State University College of Human Sciences, but now it has a huge space all to itself.
Over the years, students have worked hard to build a collection of clothing from different times. What started as a small and simple collection is now split into three groups with as many as 9,500 pieces of clothing.
You can look at some pretty pieces of clothing, from Roman clothing to clothes worn by modern fashionistas.
By putting on displays, they also think about the cultural parts of the United States and the rest of the world.
The museum was mostly made for teachers to use as a way to teach, but anyone can visit.
Relax on the Farm at Alluvial Brewing Company
Inside a farmhouse is where Alluvial Brewing Company is.
Because of its unique brand, this brewery has come a long way since it started out on a small farm.
The slow process and unusual ingredients, like coffee, maple syrup, and peanuts, used in the brewery’s brews are what make it stand out.
The taproom is right on the farm, so you can grab a drink and sit back and relax while you sip it.
You can walk around the peaceful grounds with your partner hand in hand or play a relaxing board game while sipping your favourite brew.
Spend a day having fun with your family at Inis Grove Park
When on vacation in Ames with your family, Inis Grove Park is a fun place to go.
With courts for basketball, tennis, and other common sports, this park is a great place to have a picnic and play.
There are trails and playgrounds where you can hike or ride a bike.
The children’s area is also unique because it has separate rooms for younger and older kids.
Clean and well-kept are also the restrooms and other amenities.
Bring your dog or cat to Ames Dog Park
Ames Dog Park is a public park where dogs of all breeds can run around and play. Dog lovers come here all the time.
Many dog owners use this facility to walk their dogs.
People who bring their dogs into the park must show proof that their dogs are protected against rabies and have had the right shots, or they are not allowed in.
This makes sure that everyone who comes to this lovely park feels safe and welcome.
There is also a path where you can take a quiet walk.
There are also drinking fountains in different places for you and your pet to use.
Take a boat out on the lake at Ada Hayden Heritage Park
One of Ames’s many beautiful parks is Ada Hayden Heritage Park.
It is especially well-known for the boating you can do there.
Rent a boat and go for a ride on the calm blue waters in the afternoon.
Along with bike paths, there are also short, cute walking trails.
You can also have a picnic in one of the many picnic areas afterward.
On the lake, you can also fish, and you can catch some local fish.
Ski at Seven Oaks Recreation Center
This recreation area is a hard-core favourite for people who want to play in the snow or enjoy snow-related sports like skiing and snowboarding. It is a 25-minute drive from Ames.
Snowshoeing is another fun thing you can do in this area.
Because there are so many Things to Do in Ames Iowa and play here in the winter, you’ll be able to check off a lot of your winter bucket list items.
You can rent skis and equipment for other games, which aren’t very expensive and are well worth the fun you’ll have.
The Octagon Center for the Arts
The Octagon Center for the Arts has been an important part of Ames’s arts scene for more than 50 years. It is located in a historic building in the downtown area.
At one of the many exhibitions held each year, you can see how creative the city is. You can also support local artists by buying something unique at the shop, which features the work of almost 200 artists from the city and surrounding area.
The centre is an important place for learning in the community because it hosts workshops, classes, and camps for a wide range of skills.
Every other Saturday morning, the Octagon is at the Ames Main Street Farmers’ Market, and every September, the downtown Octagon Art Festival is a big hit.
Brookside Park
On Ioway Creek, near the ISU campus, there is a public park that is great for families and full of Things to Do in Ames Iowa. From the Furman Aquatic Center, there is a beautiful trail along the river that goes down the east side.
This is lit up at night and goes over a pretty creek on a bridge. On the southeast side, the trail leads to a group of covered shelters and the Brookside Park Wading Pool, which is open in the summer for younger kids.
There are also ballfields, basketball courts, tennis courts (that can be used for pickleball), sand volleyball courts, and play areas for small children.
The Great Plains Sauce and Dough Co
This pizzeria has been a part of the Ames food scene for more than four decades and is one of the many small businesses that line Main Street in downtown Ames.
Many people think this is the best pizza place in Central Iowa. They use local ingredients whenever they can and make both traditional pies and some that aren’t as common.
The dough is made every day, and you can stop by for a slice of pizza at lunch Monday through Saturday. You can choose from three thin crusts and three thick crusts.
The unique oat flour crust is worth trying, and the Taco Pizza, which has mild taco sauce and crushed tortilla chips, is one of the more unusual specialty pizzas on the menu.
Three Ledges State Park
This state park on Peas Creek, where it flows into the Des Moines River, is just a short drive west of Ames. It has a lot of beautiful scenery. The creek has cut a 100-foot-deep gorge into the sandstone bedrock in some places.
Because of the cliffs, Ledges State Park is still one of the most popular in Iowa even though it opened in 1924.
There is a four-mile trail system that winds up steep slopes to beautiful lookout points. In the summer, the Streamwalk is a great way to get around this area because you can walk along the shallow streambed, which rarely gets higher than your ankles. Have fun skating at the Prairie Ridge Skate Park
Skating is one of many exciting sports that you can watch and play at the same time. Spend a fun day at the Prairie Ridge Skate Park.
The skate park is in the nearby city of Ankeny, which is about 30 minutes by car from Ames.
Even if you don’t like skating or don’t know how to skate, this is fine because it’s fun to watch people “grinding” on the rails.
Go to Cabaret Bar and Patio for a fun night out
The Cabaret bar and Patio is one of the many places close to the city where you can enjoy a fancy meal while watching live performers and listening to rock music from DJs in the house.
It’s in Ankeny, which is only 30 minutes from Ames.
Order some tasty food from the menu and your favourite drink, and then have a good time.
If you are going with a group, you can also rent private rooms.
Go to the Ames History Museum to learn about the city’s past
The Ames History Museum is Things to Do in Ames Iowa, Iowa. It tells the story of how the city got started.
The Ames History Museum is a non-profit organisation whose goal is to preserve and share the history of the area through exhibits, research, and educational and outreach activities.
The group takes care of the Hoggatt School, which is thought to have been the first school in Ames.
Permanent and changing exhibits cover a wide range of topics about the history of the area.
Some of the things in the museum’s collection are clothes, glasses, toys, books, maps, and pictures.
One Last Thing
There are many fun Things to Do in Ames Iowa, such as going on picnics, eating outside, and shopping.
With so many open spaces, museums, parks, exhibitions, and restaurants, it’s easy to see why people flock to this city.