Wyalusing State Park: located 10 miles south of Prairie du Chien, this is one of Wisconsin’s largest state parks. It includes more than 2600 acres of valley and bluff land that borders both great rivers. There are more than 100 campsites, 22 miles of hiking trails, canoe and kayak rentals.

Effigy Mounds National Monument: Operated by the National Park Service, Effigy Mounds lies just across the Mississippi River and five miles north. It offers 2500 acres of land, splendid bluff top hiking trails, and a rich Native American history. More than 200 burial mounds have been identified here and the visitor center contains museum exhibits and a wonderful video detailing the history of the area’s earliest inhabitants. A unique boardwalk takes you almost one mile through backwaters of  the Yellow River that flows through the park on its way to the Mississippi.

Villa Louis: Prairie du Chien is Wisconsin’s second oldest city, founded in the 1600′s by Joliet and Marquette at the end of their pathfinding travels from Hudson Bay to the Mississippi River. The Villa Louis was home to Wisconsin’s first millionaire family, the Dousmans. Now owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society this house is beautifully restored and excellent educational tours are offered. Many great events happen throughout the year on the grounds of this estate.

Fort Crawford Museum:  This National Historic Landmark sits on the site of the second fort built at Prairie du Chien. Fort Crawford guarded America’s western frontier beginning in the 1700′s. A minor battle in the War of 1812 was fought there and is commemorated yet today.

To the above you must add Mississippi River cruises, orchards, cave tours, a marina, a Mississippi River lock and dam, a winery, a micro brewery, good lodging and dining options, and interesting shopping. This part of Wisconsin is definitely worth a few days of exploration.

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.

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.

Cross the Hwy 18 bridge and visit the river towns of Marquette, Iowa and McGregor, Iowa. Marquette and McGregor both offer good dining and interesting antiquing. Try your luck at the Isle of Capri casino, or head south to Pikes Peak State Park where you can enjoy a fantastic overview of the Mississippi River and a unique boardwalk that takes you across the river bluffs and past two small waterfalls.

Go just three miles north of Marquette and stop for a hike and visit at Effigy Mounds National Monument. The Visitor’s Center will show you much about the Native Americans that made this area their home about 10,000 years ago.

If you have any energy left, return to Hwy 35 in Wisconsin and travel about five miles south of Prairie du Chien to Wyalusing State Park and again enjoy miles of hiking paths and beautiful overlooks from the bluffs above the Mississippi River. For your return trip to Lonesome Hollow, follow Hwy 27 north from Prairie du Chien and you will see lovely ridge top views and farmscapes.

There is so much to do on this trip that you might want to break it up into two separate days 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.

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

The islands eroded away and the tuberous plants disappeared. The Corps initiated a project many years ago to rebuild those islands and to make them more resistant to erosion. After many years of reduced numbers of migrating swans, the newly recreated islands are working! Now you can see as many as 25,000 Tundra Swans on any given day from late October until the backwaters freeze over. An estimated 25-40% of the eastern population of Tundra Swans stop near Brownsville on their trip from Canada to the Atlantic coast.

For our guests at Lonesome Hollow or for anyone living in or visiting Wisconsin’s Driftless Area or Kickapoo Valley the short drive to Brownsville will provide fantastic sights and sounds of these migrating birds.

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

July 10-12: enjoy the Eighth Annual Gospel and Bluegrass Festival in Viroqua; check out the Viroqua city website at www.viroqua-wisconsin.com.

July 11-12: The War of 1812 in Wisconsin – an interpretive living history camp at Villa Louis Historic Site in Prairie du Chien. Call 1-608-326-2721.

Stiltwalkers at the Country Fair

July 25 and 26: Organic Valley, the nation’s largest organic food cooperatrive, presents the Kickapoo Country Fair at the beautiful Organic Valley headquarters building on the edge of LaFarge. Enjoy great food, music, dancing, and artisan vendors. For info go to www.organicvalley.coop/kickapoo.

July 31-Aug 1: Prairie Dog Blues Festival. Regional, national, and international blues bands perform on St. Feriole Island in Prairie du Chien. Visit www.prairiedogblues.com for info.