Top fall hikes in southwest Wisconsin, Part I

Nelson Dewey State Park

There’s no better way

to experience autumn colors in southwest Wisconsin than a hike.

The brilliant yellows, oranges and red of maples to the
scarlet and russets of oaks...the crisp, fresh autumn air and the last warm rays of sunlight before winter arrives...

the crunch of fallen leaves and acorns beneath your boots...stopping to enjoy a warm mug of apple cider or a caramel apple pulled from your backpack – it all calls for an afternoon on the trail.

Fortunately, there are plenty of great autumn trails across southwest Wisconsin to hike. Some are right out your back door, while some are a day trip that you can do in an afternoon.

Buffalo County
Day hikers can see ancient fossils on a spectacular vista that one time sat at the bottom of the sea. The 0.22-miles round trip Buena Vista Overlook Trail marks a must-see for anyone traveling the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi River. Located in Alma’s Buena Vista County Park, it’s an easy walk and a spectacular one in autumn. From the vista, a rainbow of leaf colors lead downhill to large swaths of gold around the Mississippi River. From Wis. Hwy. 35 in Alma, turn east onto County Road E; known as North Street in town, it curves and becomes Second Street then curls again as ascending the bluff. Near the top, turn left/north onto Buena Vista Road. The road dead ends at the park entrance.

Crawford County
Day hikers can head through a wooded blufftop that ends at a goat prairie offering fantastic views of the Mississippi River below on the Sugar Creek Bluff Nature Trail. The 1.5-mile round trip trail sits in the Sugar Creek Bluff State Natural Area. After passing through a small prairie, the trail enters a dry-mesic forest of red and white oak, shagbark hickory, white ash, and basswood. About 0.7 miles in, the trail reaches a goat prairie with the Mississippi below. During autumn, the land surrounding the river below turns into a sea of yellow as silver maple, green ash and river birch rule the sloughs and river valley. From Ferryville, go south on Wis. Hwy. 35. Turn left/northeast on North Buck Creek Road. In about a mile is a small parking area with a Mississippi Valley Conservancy kiosk.

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Hikers can enjoy autumn colors at La Riviere Park in Prairie du Chien. Covering 300-acres, the park sits in the bluffs overlooking the confluence of the Mississippi and Wisconsin rivers. The 1-mile A-Dan La Riviere Trail loops through the park’s woods, where each autumn leaves turn yellow, tan and russet. From downtown Prairie du Chien, head south on U.S. Hwy. 18/Wis. Hwy. 35. Turn left/northeast onto Vineyard Road. Go Left on Public Road to the parking lot. The trail is shared with mountain bikers.

Grant County
Day hikers can see effigy mounds towering above a vast sea of yellow leaves during autumn in southwest Wisconsin. The 1.2-mile round trip Mound Point Trail sits in Nelson Dewey State Park overlooking the Mississippi River. Though the trail crosses a blufftop prairie, whose grasses turn amber then brown each autumn, that’s just the opening act for the hike’s real star: Unobstructed views of the sparkling Mississippi River from 500 feet up. Every autumn, across the horizon stretches a sea of yellow with spots of orange at the bluff’s base, on the islands amid the river’s backwaters, and along the opposite shore in Iowa. From Wis. Hwy. 133 in Cassville, drive northwest on County Road VV. In about a mile, the park entrance is on the right with the Stonefield Village Historic Site on the left. Follow the park road to its intersection with the road leading to the Family Campground. Go straight/west past the campground and park in the small lot where the road loops back on itself. The trail heads southwest from the parking lot across North Ridge.

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Day hikers can explore an oak savanna that’s nearly 300 feet above the Wisconsin River at the Boscobel Bluffs State Natural Area. In autumn, the bluffside lights up in an array of colors. The 3-mile round trip trail climbs 400 feet on an old logging road along the Lower Wisconsin River valley’s south flank. After passing through a globally rare dry prairie, the trail reaches a savanna offering the yellow to brown leaves of bur oak, the rich gold of shagbark hickory, and the maroon of American hazelnut. From U.S. Hwy. 61/Elm Street in Boscobel, turn east onto Mary Street, which becomes Freemont Street and then County Road MS. Just past Oakes Street, a parking lot is on the left/north.

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Yellow, orange and russet leaves await hikers at the 45-acre Oakwood Nature Park. Of the four trails there, try the 1.25-mile Oak Valley Trail, which weaves in and out of a small oak-dominated woods. From downtown Fennimore, take U.S. Hwy. 18 east. Turn left/northeast onto County Road Q. Immediately after south on Bronson Boulevard, go right/south into the parking lot. Walk south across the lawn and head east on the paved path.

Jackson County
Fantastic views of a surrounding hardwood-pine forest awaits on the Castle Mound Lookout Trail at Black River State Forest. A dry pine forest lines the southeast side of the 2-mile loop while a wet boreal forest full of gold birch and aspen and orange to brown oak dominates the northeast side. A spur trail heads to the top of Castle Mound, which rises 180 feet about the surrounding sand plain. From Black River Falls, take U.S. Hwy 12 east. Turn left/south to the Black Forest State Forest headquarters.

Great trails found in Mississippi River town

Rieck's Lake Park in Alma, Wis., offers a chance to see tundra swans,
muskrats, beavers and mink.

From muskrats and tundra swans to ancient fossils and blufftop vistas, travelers can find a number of great sights on trails in the Mississippi River town of Alma, Wis. Among them:
• Alma Beach – A 300-foot swimming beach on the Mississippi River sits next to the Alma Harbor and Marina. Various community events are held there as well.
• Buena Vista Overlook Trail – Day hikers can see ancient fossils on a spectacular vista that long ago was at the bottom of the sea. The 0.22-miles round trip Buena Vista Overlook Trail marks a must-see for anyone traveling the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi River. Located in Buena Vista County Park, it’s an easy walk that will leave you awed.
• Buena Vista Trail – Those looking for a physical challenge can instead leave their vehicle parked in Alma and head up the steep Buena Vista Trail. From Second Street, the route climbs 550 feet of the bluff over three miles to the Buena Vista County Park’s lawn area.
• Mossy Hollow Trail – An easier walk than the Buena Vista Trail, this hike begins at the Alma Cemetery off of Cemetery Road east of Wis. Hwy. 35. As heading up the bluff, it offers fantastic views of the Mississippi River valley below.
• Rieck’s Lake Park walkabout – Observation decks overlook a waterfowl habitat at the confluence of the Mississippi and Buffalo rivers. About mid-October, large concentrations of tundra swans from northern Canada and Alaska arrive and linger until November or freeze-up. Peak population reaches 6,000. Other wildlife – like beaver, muskrat and mink – can be seen here, with muskrat huts visible on the lake. From downtown Alma, head north on Hwy. 35 then go left/east onto Rieck's Lake Park Road.

Learn about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.

Trail heads to top of Mississippi River bluff

Young oaks line the bluffside in spring on the Thrive! Park Trail.

Thrive! Park map; trail in yellow.

A new public trail allows day hikers to explore the top of a high Mississippi River bluff.

The Thrive! Park Trail runs 1.5 miles from the tiny village of Nelson, Wis., to a goat prairie some 425 feet above the river valley. Located in Thrive! Park, the public land is part of an effort to restore the bluffs to how they looked in the 1800s before pioneers almost eliminated them. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the landowners jointly funding the restoration effort.

To reach the trail, from Wis. Hwys. 25/35 in Nelson, turn east onto Cleveland Street. When the road enters the woods, turn left onto Christopherson Road. A parking lot is on the right. A marker showing the trailhead is in the lot.

Several trails run through the 25-acre park that covers a traversable, albeit steep bluffside and its tops. The hiking trails are about six feet wide and used to be old logging trails; because of this, grass grows over them, so you’ll want to wear high socks or pants. Most of the spurs heading off the hiking roads are about three feet wide, with some being former deer trails.

Ancient bluffs
A representative route the loops about the bluff, the Thrive! Park Trail starts with a steep ascent. This and other climbs generally are short, broken up with fairly flat trails on tables in the bluff.

The bluff and others like it along the Mississippi River began to form some 500 million years ago, as rivers deposited sand into a shallow sea. Year after year, layer upon layer built up, reaching a depth of well over 800 feet in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Under the pressure and heat, those layers cemented together forming sandstone, dolomite and limestone. Some of the layers are extremely coarse and easily crumble while others are so hard that power drills must be used to cut through them.

Ice ages during the past 2.6 million years have wiped away the top layers. Along this region of the Mississippi, glacier meltwater at the end of the last age age cut deep and wide rivers valleys, exposing whole sides of the bluffs as water levels decreased. Wind, rain, snowmelt, and the freezing cycle continues the erosion process today.

At a number of spots along the river, this has left steep stone faces, such as at Pikes Peak in the northernmost portion of the park and which this trail goes to the top of. Its summit offers a great view of the village and Mississippi River below for about 15 miles around.

Smaller stone faces that the trail also heads atop includes the Three Sisters and the Lost Brother on the park’s east side.

Goat prairies
During the hike, the trail crosses a couple of blufftop meadows and goat prairies. Of the latter, no wild goats ever actually lived on the prairies; the open area received the nickname because settlers believed only goats ever could reach and live on the blufftops and steep sides.

The goat prairies for the most part didn’t exist during the 20th century. They flourish when lightning strikes start them on fire, allowing ash to provide the nutrients for the grass there to grow again, but settlers during the latter half of the 1800s feared the flames would destroy their homesteads and villages. So, they suppressed the fires, which allowed red cedar and other trees to move in. As those trees shaded out the grasses and wildflowers that needed sun, woodlands soon dominated.

Rejuvenation efforts, however, have since cleared out the trees and with a replanting of native grasses and wildflowers helped revive the goat prairies. Today, the bluff looks more like what pioneers coming up and down the river in the 1860s would have observed rather than what a driver on Hwys. 25/35 below would have seen in the 1960s.

Beyond the goat prairies and other meadows, oak dominates the bluffside.

Thrive! Park is fairly new. The land for the park was donated in 2015 by Gary “Chris” Christopherson, who led a long career in the federal government and created 150 sculptures, primarily in copper, wood and stone. His studio and some of his works sit north of the parking lot.

Recommended Route
From the parking lot, go northeast up the bluff. At the first trail junction, go right/southeast then at the next one turn left/northeast. This takes you to about 800 feet elevation.

Go right/east up the steep Knob Hiking Road. Past the Knob River View, turn left/northwest then right/northeast toward Pikes Peak. At the next trail junction, go right/northwest atop the peak and onto Pikes Peak Prairie.

Return to the junction you turned at right after passing Knob River View. From there, walk left/northeast. This heads through a small prairie. Then turn left/northeast and head to the Three Sisters bluff.

Spur trails head to the Second Sister, the Third Sister, and the Lost Brother. For all three, you’re at about 1200 feet elevation.

Between the spurs for the Third Sister and Lost Brother, take the trail southeast. This is a steep descent to the bluff bottom.

A little more than 200 feet down, the trail levels out (but still descends) and becomes the Valley Hiking Road. Take this back to the stem trail that goes left/southwest to the parking lot.

Learn about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.

Fossils, fantastic river vista await in Alma

Fossil-filled flagstones lead to a vista overlooking
the Mississippi River.

Buena Vista Overlook Trail topo map

Day hikers can see ancient fossils on a spectacular vista that one time sat at the bottom of the sea.

The 0.22-miles round trip Buena Vista Overlook Trail marks a must-see for anyone traveling the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi River. Located in Buena Vista County Park, it’s an easy walk that will leave you awed.

To reach the trailhead, from Wis. Hwy. 35 in Alma, turn east onto County Road E; known as North Street in town, it curves and becomes Second Street then curls again as ascending the bluff. Near the top, turn left/north onto Buena Vista Road. The road dead ends at the park entrance atop Twelve Mile Bluff.

Take the trail heading west from the parking lot’s west-central side. It passes a lawn with picnic tables on its way to the vista.

About 490 to 420 million years ago, this part of Wisconsin sat at the bottom of a shallow tropical sea no more than 20-30 feet deep. As sediment high in calcium and magnesium settled on the sea floor, it cemented together and hardened into dolomite. Today, that seafloor sits more than 1040 feet above sea level.

The Prairie du Chien dolomite caprock rests atop sandstone set down more than 490 million years ago. Because of the caprock, the bluffs here remain in place, though rain, freezing/thawing, and wind continue to erode away the sandstone grain by grain.

The flagstones for the walkway leading to the vista were cut from the caprock and contain fossilized animal burrows. Little is known about the creatures who made these burrows, but they are thought to be soft-bodied worms that lived just beneath the sea floor. Small, fossilized shells also can be found in the flagstones.

Stromatolites ranging a foot to two feet in diameter sit on the caprock at the vista. These rock formations were created when cyanobacteria, which photosynthesize light for food in warm, shallow waters, die and grow atop one another, building a boulder layer by layer.

From the vista, the city of Alma spreads out below, and to the northwest Lock and Dam No. 4 runs the length of the Mississippi River. The opposite shoreline is Minnesota.

Those looking for a physical challenge can instead leave their vehicle parked in Alma and head up the steep Buena Vista Trail. From Second Street, the route climbs 550 feet of the bluff over three miles to the park’s lawn area.

Learn about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.

Buffalo River State Trail offers rustic hike

Buffalo River State Trail. Courtesy Wisconsin DNR.

Topo map of trail's eastern terminus, Plate 1.

Topo map of trail's eastern terminus, Plate 2.

Topo map of trail's eastern terminus, Plate 3.

Old railroad grade
runs 36.4 miles
in Wisconsin

Day hikers can enjoy a pastoral walk past farm fields and through country woods on the Buffalo River State Trail in west-central Wisconsin.

The trail runs for 36.4 miles through the Buffalo River Valley between Mondovi and Fairchild while passing three other farm towns. Most of the way, the trail parallels either the Buffalo River or one of its forks. An easy to reach and rustic segment to walk heads 4.8-miles round trip from Fairchild to the North Fork Buffalo River.

To reach that trailhead in Fairchild, at Eau Claire County's southeastern corner, from U.S. Hwy. 12 go northeast onto County Road YY/North Street. After crossing Town Line Road, turn left/north into the Buffalo River State Trail parking lot. An access trail goes from the lot north to the main route.

Classic farm country
Once there, turn left/southwest onto the trail (Taking the trail the other direction heads into downtown Fairchild.). Built on a former railroad grade, the trail here and throughout its course is fairly flat with a surface of railroad ballast and limestone screenings.

In about 0.1 miles, the trail crosses busy Hwy. 12. Be sure to look both ways and hold hands of any children with you.

From there, the trail line is nicely lined with hardwood trees on both sides, making for a pleasant colorful walk in autumn. As the trail is wide, though, you'll need a sunhat or sunscreen.

Through breaks in the treelines, you'll be able to spot a variety of farm fields on either sides of the tracks. This is classic Wisconsin dairy country you’re heading through.

About 0.5 miles from trailhead, the trail crosses McGower Road. In doing so, you are now in Jackson County. At 0.9 miles, the trail intersects Arndt Road.

Riviere de Beeufs
The farmland gives way to heavier woodlands at about 1.85 miles, when the trail recrosses McGower Road. Tree plantations can be seen on the trail’s north side for part of this segment.

At 2.4 miles the trail reaches North Fork Buffalo River, a good turnback point. The river and its forks were named by early French explorers for the bison than once roamed this area; they called it the Riviere de Beeufs. The North Fork joins the main Buffalo River upstream. The Buffalo in turn flows into the Mississippi River at Alma; it’s the next tributary to feed the southbound Mississippi after the Chippewa River.

Bicycles, horses, ATVs and UTVs also use the trail spring through autumn; during winter, it becomes a snowmobile trail. Be aware that sometimes maps refer to the route as the Beef River Recreational Vehicle Trail or as the Buffalo River State Park Trail.

Other trailheads (heading east to west) for the Buffalo River State Trail include:
• Osseo – On non-school days, park at school district's athletics fields at the northern end of Rose Lane. Follow the lane north onto an access trail for the Buffalo River State Trail.
• Strum – Park downtown on County Road D/Fifth Avenue South; the trail is between Birch and Maple streets.
• Eleva – Park on Third Street South and walk south; the trail is just past Goddard Street.
• Mondovi – Parking is available at the southern end of Marten Street.

Learn more about nearby day hiking trails in my Day Hiking Trails of the Chippewa Valley guidebook.

Three trails explore Chippewa bottomlands

The broad floodplains along Wisconsin’s Chippewa River as it flows into the Mississippi River makes it more easily to traverse by boat than foot. Still, three primitive trails in the Tiffany Bottoms State Wildlife Area give some access to this unique and interesting wilderness area.

The 13,000-acre wildlife area stretches alongside both sides of the Chippewa River just south of Durand to the Mississippi. It is one of Wisconsin's largest continuous bottomland hardwood forests.

Because of the protected space’s vastness, a variety of wildlife are able to call the bottomlands home. Among them are beaver, otter, muskrat, raccoon, ruffed grouse, wood ducks, and whitetail deer. It's also a great area to spot several endangered and threatened species, including bald eagles, great egrets, red-shouldered hawks, Blanding's turtle, and the massasauga rattlesnake.

In Pepin County, on the Chippewa River's west side, two trails run through the wildlife area.

The Swede Ramble Trail runs about 4-miles one-way through a meadow and the bottomland hardwood forest. Start at the parking lot off of Swede Rambler Lane southeast of Little Plum Creek and end at another lot off of Tulip Lane east of Big Hill Road. A couple of spur trails run west off of the main trail.

South of that area is the Five-Mile Bluff Prairie Trail, which runs about 3-miles total. From a parking lot at the end of 16th Creek Road, the trail heads north at the base of Five Mile Bluff then loops to and over its top, which is more than 300 feet above the river.

On the Buffalo County side of the Chippewa River, the Thibodeau to Trevino Trail rambles about 15 miles, often alongside various sloughs including a crossing of Buffalo Slough. For day hiking, a 10-mile round trip hike from the parking lot, off of Wis. Hwy. 25 just north of Thibodeau Road, to Buffalo Slough is a long enough route. If making it a point-to-point trail, the full trail ends at a boat ramp off of Wis. Hwy. 35 on the Chippewa's eastern shoreline.

Be forewarned that the trails are not marked, and especially during spring are prone to flooding. Always carry insect repellent with you and stay on the walking path.

Learn about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.