Fishing fans already know of one of the gems of northeast Iowa: Some of the America’s finest trout streams are tucked beneath steep hillsides in idyllic, narrow valleys.

But this corner of the Hawkeye State is also known for its milk — another result of the unusual landscape.

The pastoral scenery of these parts hasn’t changed for the past 500 million years. Untouched by the glaciers that scraped across much of the Midwest, the region known as the Driftless Area is defined by rugged terrain not found in most of Iowa. It’s anything but flat, and therefore unsuitable for the type of farming typically associated with this state.

“Northeast Iowa is a lot like Wisconsin,” said Tom Weighner of WW Homestead Dairy (850 Rossville Road, Waukon; 563-568-4950; wwhomesteaddairy.com). “The countryside lends itself to dairy farms.”

Dozens of small farms operated by Amish families living near Kalona, Iowa, provide Kalona SuperNatural with the organic milk it uses to produce a variety of dairy products. (Jay Jones/for the Chicago Tribune)

As with America’s Dairyland just across the Mississippi River, Iowa’s Allamakee County is dairy country, although Weighner said he can count on one hand the number of creameries that remain. As in Wisconsin, through consolidation, dairy operations have grown “bigger, bigger, bigger.”

Embedded among bucolic pastures full of Frisian and Holstein cows, many of the remaining creameries welcome visitors to stop by and take in the production of everything from cheese to ice cream and, of course, to indulge in some tasty wholesomeness.

Weighner’s small factory, about 4½ hours west of Chicagoland, is a good place to start. Open daily, the farm’s shop draws people with fresh products including butter, cottage cheese and ice cream, all made with non-homogenized milk for a creamier taste. Guided tours of the creamery include a bag of cheese curds or a scoop of ice cream with the $6 ticket.

Reagan Plagge, 6, of Latimer, Iowa, befriends a cow named Jayden during her family’s stay in the New Day Dairy Guest Barn near Clarksville, Iowa. (Jay Jones/for the Chicago Tribune)

Homestead’s biggest seller is cheese curds. The small bites of just-made cheddar cheese have been separated from the whey, and as any fan will tell you, squeak as you bite in. Even though deep-fried curds are available, folks are encouraged to try them right out of the bag. They come in about a dozen flavors, such as cream and chive; garlic dill; mango habanero; and steak and onion, and have won numerous awards.

“Because we’re making small-batch curds, we feel we can make a better curd than a plant that’s making them in 50,000-pound vats,” Weighner said.

Somewhat surprisingly, Homestead Dairy successfully markets its curds in a number of towns in Wisconsin.

“They appreciate good cheese over there, (once) they get past where they were made,” he said.

Dairy certainly isn’t want comes to most people’s minds when they think of Iowa, said Mariah Busta, coordinator of Iowa’s Dairy Center.

“When somebody from Chicago thinks of Iowa, they probably think of corn and, if we’re lucky, maybe soybeans,” Busta said. “Iowa, in people’s minds, is corn.”

But at Iowa’s Dairy Center, (1527 Highway 150, Calmar; 563-534-9957, ext. 8107; iowadairycenter.com), a museum and working farm in Winneshiek County, the focus is on the moderate-sized family farms in the northeast corner of the state, she said.

An 8-foot mural of a dairy cow adorns the side of a shed in downtown Waukon, Iowa. It’s one of scores of cow paintings created by local artist Valerie Miller. (Jay Jones/for the Chicago Tribune)

Much of the facility, including the milking parlors, is open 24 hours a day so people can learn about dairying whenever convenient.

“Not a lot of people live on a farm anymore,” Busta pointed out. “They’re not familiar with dairy.”

Cows are milked by robots round-the-clock in a high-tech parlor built in 2013. The Dutch company that makes the laser-guided milking machines has also supplied other robots — which look a lot like giant versions of robotic household vacuums — to push feed to hungry cows and scoop up the resulting manure.

About 10,000 people travel each year to this relatively remote location to tour the museum and barns. “People are interested to learn where their food comes from,” Busta said.

Guided tours are offered Monday-Friday year-round and cost $8 for adults and $5 for children. Reservations can be made through the website or by phone. Self-guided tours, available 24/7, are free. Pick up a brochure near the entrance.

A relatively new invention, robotic milking machines reduce the amount of labor needed on dairy farms. They can also milk cows at any hour of the day or night when their udders are full. That means late-night visitors won’t miss out on the high-tech milking process.

The same is true about an hour away at the New Day Dairy Guest Barn (31000 175th St., Clarksville; 319-278-4455; newdaydairy.com), where Dan and Lynn Bolin invite guests to “sleep with the cows.” Guests stay in a charming, three-bedroom guesthouse attached to the barn. Overnight rates range from $250 to $500, depending on the number of guests and the time of year.

Meeting cows like this pair of Holsteins, two of New Day Dairy’s herd of 120 cows, is part of the experience for overnight guests at the farm. (Jay Jones/for the Chicago Tribune)

“We don’t know of anything quite like this,” Lynn Bolin said. “We wanted to encourage people to experience a dairy farm from close up and personal.”

The lounge area on the second floor features two large windows through which visitors can observe the Bolins’ 120 dairy cows.

“If you have to go to the bathroom at three in the morning, you can check out what the cows are doing,” Lynn Bolin added.

Their milk — each cow produces about 10 gallons a day — is processed into cream cheese and Swiss cheese at a factory roughly 80 miles away in Luana, Iowa.

A short drive south of Iowa City, the town of Kalona is a dairy success story, one that sustains dozens of small, Amish farms. A large but local company, Kalona SuperNatural, recognized the potential of making a variety of products using readily available organic milk.

While the company’s high-end products are found in Whole Foods Markets across the country, Kalona Creamery (2206 540th St SW, Kalona; 319-656-4220; kalonacreamery.com) is where visitors can find homemade curds, fudge and ice cream in a whimsical, cow-themed store. Plan to visit Friday mornings to watch white cheddar curds being made.

Kalona has the largest Amish-Mennonite community west of the Mississippi River, after the first Amish settlers arrived in 1846. Visitors learn about the area’s history during the Kalona Byways Tour ($25 for adults, $15 for children 7-12; 514 B Ave., Kalona; 319-656-2660; kalonachamber.com/tours), and its growing population of about 1,500 Amish and Mennonite people.

Artist Valerie Miller displays some of the scores of cows she has painted in her studio in Waukon, Iowa. Working from her own photographs, she says she has thousands more still to paint. (Jay Jones/for the Chicago Tribune)

On your way out of town, it’s possible to take home not only some Iowa cheese, but a piece of remarkable cow art, thanks to Waukon artist Valerie Miller.

“I can’t explain it, but I love them. I love their eyes. I love their noses. I love their tongues,” she said. “I just think they’re so beautiful.

“I meet each and every animal I paint,” she continued. “I love that experience of interacting with the animals.”

Miller’s large murals of cows can be found on a downtown Waukon shed and at WW Homestead Dairy just south of town. Using her multitude of photos for reference, she plans to resume painting at Steel Cow (15 Allamakee St., Waukon; 563-568-1513; steelcow.com) once her studio and gallery reopen following a large fire in adjoining businesses.

“I have thousands of cows left to paint,” Miller said. “I won’t quit until my hands won’t let me paint anymore.”

Jay Jones is a freelance writer.