Nine Can't-Miss Wisconsin Hiking Trails along the Mississippi River for Autumn

Mississippi River in autumn from the Wisconsin side.

One of the best places in Wisconsin to enjoy fall colors is long the Mississippi River. The river runs though the heart of the Driftless Area, a hilly region untouched by ice age glaciers. This large geographical relief results in a plethora of autumn colors as different trees dominate specific elevations and hill faces, based on whether or not they receive most of their sunlight from the north or south.

Here are a variety of great trails to explore autumn leaves on the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi River.

Pierce County
Day hikers can learn about the Mississippi River on the Great River Road Visitor Center Interpretive Trail in Prescott. For those traveling south along ‘Ol Man River, the visitor center marks a good first stop. The paved interpretive trail overlooking the river and the visitor center sit atop a bluff rising 400 feet above the Mississippi River. The trail offers fantastic views of the golden-leaved riverway. Elsewhere in the small park, century-old burr oak trees glow a brilliant yellow. From Prescott, drive southeast of downtown on Wis. Hwy. 35. Turn right/south on Monroe Street. The center is in one block at Freedom Park.

Pepin County
Day hikers can explore a bluff steeped in majestic white oaks and legend high above Lake Pepin. The Maiden Rock Bluff Trail runs 1.4-miles round trip in west-central Wisconsin overlooking beautiful Lake Pepin. It’s located in the Maiden Rock State Natural Area, which preserves a blufftop prairie that turns golden in autumn. From Stockholm, take County Road J north. Turn left/northwest onto County Road E then go left/west into Long Lane. The road dead ends at a grassy parking lot on the blufftop. A trailhead is a few yards east of the lot and heads north from the road.

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.

Trempealeau County
Great views of the Mississippi River await at Perrot State Park. The 2.4-miles round trip Brady’s Bluff West and East trails are particularly impressive in autumn. Start up Brady’s Bluff West Trail and pause at the hill’s summit, which offers impressive views of the Mississippi River Valley, a brilliant blue ribbon through a forest of golden leaves. Descending the summit via the Brady’s Bluff East Trail heads through a woods of russet-leaved oaks. From Wis. Hwy. 35 in Trempealeau, take 10th Street west. Turn right/north onto Park Road, which becomes South Park Road. Park in the lot before the boat launch; the trailhead is on the opposite side of the road.

La Crosse County
Hikers can head through an oak woodland to the top of a bluff at Wisconsin’s Hixon Forest Nature Center. The 3-mile round-trip Lookout Trail, reached via a segment of the Sumac Trail, sits at the edge of the La Crosse metro area. The trail is exceptional during autumn when acorns and leaves cover the trail beneath a harvest-hued canopy. Fall leaves in their expansive canopy range from brown and wine-red to orange-red on the white oaks and the golden leaves, which are far richer than the yellows of the sugar maple, of the shagbark hickory. Also look for the hickory’s fragrant, edible nut; it has a sweet flavor. From U.S. Hwy. 53 in La Crosse, go east on La Crosse Street. Turn left/north onto Wis. Hwy. 16/Losey Boulevard North then right/east onto Bluff Pass Road and right/south onto Milson Court. The road ends at a gravel parking lot.

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Autumn colors and great views await in the Greens Coulee-Savanna Oaks site in Onalaska. The Mississippi River Valley Conservancy's 81 acres includes a scenic bluff that rises 400 feet above the valley floor adjacent to the city’s Greens Coulee Park. A 1.4-mile lollipop-plus route heads to the bluff's peak, where reds, oranges and yellows fill much of the fall canopy along the way. From the intersection of U.S. Hwy. 53 and East Main Street in Onalaska, take the latter east. Turn left/northeast onto Green Coulee Road then right onto Clifford Drive. Look for the kiosk at the of the cul-de-sac, where parking is available.

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.