View from Wyalusing State Park

Hiking opportunities in Southwest Wisconsin abound!

Five large parks (three state parks, one national monument, and one public reserve) are located between the Prairie du Chien area and the northern end of the Kickapoo River. As the proverbial crow flies, this is a distance of about 60 miles, but taking the crooked, winding roads of the Driftless Area would require about 80 miles and two hours of driving. The good news is that all of that driving will be along scenic rural roads with little traffic and with pleasant surprises along the entire route.

Just to the southwest of Prairie du Chien, in Iowa, lie Pike’s Peak State Park and Effigy Mounds National Monument. At Pike’s Peak you have easy access to the best overlook along the upper Mississippi River. This overlook stands 400 feet above the Mississippi and looks east at Wisconsin’s Wyalusing State Park and at the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers. Seven miles north of Pikes Peak is Effigy Mounds National Monument. Along with great bluff trails Effigy Mounds offers a very informative Visitor’s Center that explains the history of Native Americans in the upper Mississippi Valley.

Wyalusing State Park on the Wisconsin side of the river boasts of twenty miles of hiking trails, great Mississippi River overlooks’ and even a gathering place for amateur astronomers to view the dark skies of the rural area.

Horseback Riding at Wildcat Mountain State Park

From Prairie du Chien find your way east to State Highway 131 and drive north through the Kickapoo Valley. You will not need to leave your car to enjoy constant rural beauty as the highway winds its way along the Kickapoo River and through a half dozen small river villages. Toward the north end of the Kickapoo Valley, just north of the Village of La Farge, you will find the Kickapoo Valley Reserve. The Reserve offers more than 8000 acres of public land that stretches along a 15 mile section of the Kickapoo River. The terrain is typical Driftless Area – a constant succession of wooded bluffs and small valleys. The Kickapoo Reserve is bordered to the north by Wisconsin’s Wildcat Mountain State Park. Together these park areas offer more than 50 miles of hiking, bicycling, mountain biking, and horse trails.

It would take the average person weeks to explore all of this area’s hiking trails. During your stay in the area you will find great food, unique shopping opportunities, and comfortable lodging. This is a great destination for a weekend or a week.

Kickapoo River Canoeing

The 2010 canoeing season is now open on the Kickapoo River in Southwest Wisconsin. A leisurely paddle down the Kickapoo starting in either Ontario, Wisconsin or Rockton, Wisconsin will take you through some beautiful Driftless Area terrain complete with large limestone and sandstone rock outcroppings and some good trout fishing opportunities as well.

The Kickapoo River is a class 2 trout stream from Wilton to Gays Mills. Good spots to fish are the junctions where small streams flow into the Kickapoo. Right now all trout fishing is catch and release, and there is a week that is closed to trout fishing in early May as angling transitions into the regular season. From mid-May through the end of September trout season is fully open and you can catch your own dinner.

Don’t attempt to canoe the Kickapoo following heavy rain. Too much water is funneled quickly by the surrounding hills into this otherwise lazy river. But most of the time you can just relax, paddle slowly, and enjoy great scenery. If you float south from Ontario, you will pass through a corner of Wildcat Mountain State Park and past impressive limestone outcroppings. If you float out of Rockton, you will float through a long stretch of the Kickapoo Valley Reserve, an 8600 acre parcel of public land (very much undeveloped) with great hiking and biking opportunities.

Spend two to six hours on the Kickapoo. Have a great local steak dinner. Lodge at one of the areas neat B&Bs, such as Inn at Lonesome Hollow. You’ll have a wonderful time.

The Inn at Lonesome Hollow, a rural bed and breakfast located near Soldiers Grove, WI, is hosting three trout fishing workshops during the 2010 trout season. The speaker is Len Harris, a native of the Gays Mills, WI area, a former trout fishing guide, and currently a syndicated outdoor writer. Len knows these streams well, and he has hundreds of great photos of the streams he fishes and the fish he has helped his clients catch. In these workshops Len will discuss the tactics he uses to catch big trout.

Join us on May 8, June 19, or Sept 11 at Lonesome Hollow to be informed and entertained by a talented “trout guy”.  You can view all kinds of trout stories and pictures on Len’s blogsite, http://lenharris.blogspot.com.