Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin is a small city situated on the Mississippi River in the southwest corner of the state. The city is surrounded by the natural beauty of the Mississippi and Wisconsin Rivers which flow together just south of the city. Four hundred foot tall, wooded bluffs rise along each side of the Mississippi. Enjoy the wonderful drives and views and also take in some very interesting attractions.
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Posts Tagged ‘mississippi river’
Prairie du Chien Attractions
February 21st, 2012 by knapik
Southwest Wisconsin Hiking
June 7th, 2011 by knapik
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. Read the rest of this page »
Day Trips Day #1: The Big River
January 4th, 2011 by knapik
See some of the finest vistas of Crawford County. Travel south from Lonesome Hollow along Hwy 131 into the cute little village of Gays Mills. Peppermint Springs Furniture has a wonderful showroom featuring beautiful locally made tables and chairs. Take Hwy 171 west and stop at Mt Sterling Cheese Factory, for some of the best goat cheese produced in the state.
Continue on Hwy 171 to the Mississippi River, then turn south on Hwy 35. Enjoy beautiful vistas of the big river, see Lynxville Dam and the fishing boats gathered on the downstream side. Look for soaring eagles all along the river. Stop at Cabelas on the north side of Prairie du Chien if you need anything for the outdoors: items for hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, and canoeing are all featured. In Prairie du Chien visit Villa Louis, a restored Italianate mansion owned by Wisconsin’s first millionaire.
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Day Trips Day #3: La Crosse and Coon Valley
January 4th, 2011 by knapik
Wisconsin is blessed by many wonderful small cities with populations of 50,000 to 100,000. Not really totally urban and surrounded by rural beauty, La Crosse is worth a full day of exploring.
Leaving Lonesome Hollow, follow Crawford County Hwy C west to Hwy 35. Then sit back in your car and take in the splendor of a forty mile drive along the upper Mississippi River. You will see areas of the river that are more than two miles wide, and other areas of the river that are choked with hundreds of small islands that form a maze of interconnected waterways.
La Crosse has something to offer everyone: antique malls, great restaurants, city parks along the river, Grandad’s Bluff (a park on a bluff 600 feet above the city), and plenty of shopping. Activities available in La Crosse include minor league baseball and river rides on paddle-wheel excursion boats.
When leaving the city, follow Hwy 14/61 south to the village of Coon Valley. Here you will find nice restaurants and scenic local drives. If you go east on County Hwy P you will find Norskedalen, a nature and Norwegian Heritage Center. Norskedalen offers a great photo history of the Coon Valley area and the Bekkum Pioneer Homestead featuring a dozen or so original log structures that compromised a late 1800′s homestead.
Continuing south Hwy 14/61 will take you through the larger villages of Westby and Viroqua. Both offer fine restaurants, antique shops, and very entertaining seasonal events. From Viroqua, just follow Hwy 61 south to Soldiers Grove. Stop for dinner at the Old Oak Inn in Soldiers Grove, a beautifully renovated Victorian restaurant.
Mississippi River Migrating Birds
November 19th, 2010 by knapik
On a beautiful, clear, early November day we drove from Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin to the Mississippi River. We travelled north past Ferryville then crossed to the Iowa side of the Great River. Then north again into Minnesota. We were headed for Brownsville, Minnesota for a very special sight.
This is a special time of the year along the upper Mississippi River, near the tri-state area where Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota meet. Just south of the city of Brownsville, Minnesota in the extensive Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, the Corps of Engineers has been rebuilding islands in the backwaters of the Mississippi. These islands were originally present when the river was dammed, but then gradually eroded over the subsequent 60 or 70 years. It turns out that those islands provided the perfect habitat for tuberous plants that offer a perfect diet to migrating swans.
Migrating Swans on the Mississippi
July Events in SW Wisconsin
June 23rd, 2009 by knapik
If you are in the general area of Southwest Wisconsin this July, check out some fun local events that will take place. The southwest corner of Wisconsin is very rural in character and very rugged in landscape. The Driftless Area is best expressed and best enjoyed in the “Coulee Region” – the area from LaCrosse south to Prairie du Chien and from the Mississippi River east to Baraboo. The land is a constant series of 300 to 600 foot high, wooded hills that rise from picturesque valleys. It is an area of small villages, abundant trout streams, and diverse cultural heritage.
Here are some suggested events:
July 4: experience small town Fourth of July in LaFarge or Ontario - both small towns on the Kickapoo River; just a short distance from the Kickapoo lie Hillsboro and Westby which also have interesting July 4 celebrations.
Mississippi Cruise Tour to Effigy Mounds
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Bike the Barns in the Driftless Area
Progressive history: Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin
The Great Wisconsin Birding and Nature Trail