♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Beyond Madison County's celebrated bridges, The Covered Bridges Byway takes travelers through two parks with a story of their own.

Pammel State Park was one of Iowa's first state parks.

Its distinctive natural features have drawn in visitors for nearly 100 years.

Lowry: This is a historic park with acres and acres of beautiful hickory and walnut woodlands, prairies.

Middle River goes through it.

The main feature of the park is the devil's backbone, which is a ridge that goes through the park that in some places is over a hundred feet tall.

The Harmon Tunnel, which is Iowa's only tunnel that a highway goes through, was carved out originally in 1858.

Kohlsdorf: Also centered around the water, Middle River Park provides opportunities for fishing and kayaking.

Or take a relaxing stroll along the serene Middle River.

Lowry: Middle River Park is another really special park that we maintain at the Madison County Conservation.

It's right south of Winterset, and it's about 70 acres nestled right in the woodlands.

We've got a wooden boardwalk that is handicap accessible for hiking, a shelter that you can rent.

Kohlsdorf: Clark Tower sits just north of the park.

Hike or drive through the dense woods to the limestone structure.

Climb to the top for a bird's eye view of the surrounding countryside.

Lowry: Next time you're in Madison County and you're driving around, looking at all of our historic covered bridges, you want to make sure that you get the entire Madison County experience.

These are gems of southern Iowa.

The rough, rugged topography just makes these parks very, very special.

You do not want to miss Pammel Park and Middle River Park.