The Pilgrims Page: Trinity Heights Shrine in Sioux City, Iowa

Trinity Heights is a beautiful, peaceful shrine nestled in Sioux City, Iowa. This shrine is 16 acres of parklike land where you will find memorial gardens, saint shrines, a rosary path, and Marian apparition gardens. The 33-foot sculpture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and a 30-foot sculpture of the Immaculate Heart of Mary anchor this beautiful shrine.

Father Harold Cooper, then pastor of St. Joseph Church in Sioux City, was inspired to build the shrine when he saw a 30-foot statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary in California. Father Cooper wanted to see something similar in the Midwest, so he formed a group of supporters and founded a nonprofit to take care of the shrine, which opened to the public in 1990.

The complex is beautifully kept with manicured gardens and handicapped accessible walkways that meander through trees and open space. You feel a sense of peace just walking around the property. It is a place for quiet, prayer, and reflection and to learn the riches of the Catholic faith. Each season of the year brings a specific charm to the place. However, spring brings the beauty of the place fully alive with colorful blooms of flowers and trees.

One powerful shrine at Trinity Heights is the Rachel Weeping sculpture. It is dedicated to the victims of abortion and is the center focus of the Circle of Life memorial to the unborn. One cannot help being moved by this memorial as a place of forgiveness, prayer, and most of all, hope. The Way of the Saints is a path of sculptures and plaques where visitors can learn about the lives of the saints. This is a great way to teach children about saints!

There are several buildings to visit on the property as well. One is the St. Joseph Center with a 22-foot life-sized, carved wooden sculpture of the Last Supper. Here you can sit in front of the wooden masterpiece and ponder what it would have been like to have been in the room with the apostles and be present for that great event.  

If you decide to go, this shrine is only four miles from I-29 in Sioux City. It is also only 2.5 hours away from the Redemption Shrine in West Bend, Iowa, featured in the July/Aug 2024 New Earth. The House of Mary shrine in Yankton, South Dakota is only an hour away from Trinity Heights and is another beautiful spot of sculptures, prayer paths, and a panoramic view of Lewis & Clark Lake and the Nebraska chalk rock bluffs.  

This is a fantastic catechetical and spiritual “road trip” pilgrimage.