The Driftless Area is the portion of Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, and Iowa that was never covered by glaciers! During the most recent ice age, glaciers in the area acted as bulldozers, picking up rocks and sediment as they scraped across the landscape. All those rocks and sediment are what we call drift, and as the glaciers retreated and melted they left their drift across the landscape. Thus, we call this area the Driftless Area!