9 Autumn Day Hiking Trails You Must Try Along the Wisconsin-Iowa Border

Mississippi River bluff in Wisconsin along Iowa border

If living in a border county or traveling near the Wisconsin-Iowa state line, you may want to check out some of the great autumn trails.

The trails sit in the Driftless Area – hilly country untouched by glaciers during the last ice age – and run along the Mississippi River. The continuous elevation changes and multiple waterways ensures a variety of trees and hence a harvest-hued rainbow of fall colors.

Iowa

Allamakee County
Among Iowa’s best fall color trails sit high on an ancient site over the Mississippi River. One of them, the 2-mile round trip Fire Point Trail at Effigy Mounds National Monument, passes Eagle Rock with a vista 300 feet above the river. Amber, pumpkin orange and scarlet leaves of sugar maple and bronze-colored basswood dominate the trail’s northern slopes while the warmer southern side is lit with the russet of red oak, tan and brown of shagbark hickory, and gold to burgundy of white ash. Hike during the early morning when mist rises off the river as high as the bluff, and there’s little wonder why the Native American found these bluffs a spiritual place. From U.S. Hwy. 18 in Marquette, Iowa, take Iowa Hwy. 76 north. Park at the visitor center; the trail leaves from there.

Clayton County
Brilliant fall colors and bald eagles abound at Pikes Peak State Park. The 3.4-miles round trip Point Ann Trail passes through a forest of sugar maple, basswood, red oak, shagbark hickory, and white ash on its way to Point Ann, an overlook about 200 feet above the river. The vista not only offers an inspiring view of the Wisconsin River’s confluence with the Mississippi River but of majestic bald eagles riding the thermals. There are 62 eagle nests along the Mississippi River just in Clayton County. From McGregor, head south on Great River Road. After passing the Speed Limit 50 sign, take the first left/east. Leave your vehicle in the lot at the end of the park road.

Dubuque County
Day hikers can walk through a birch forest, which is impressive during autumn, at the Mines of Spain State Recreation Area. The 1-mile looping Catfish Trail (upper portion) offers scenic viewpoints and for a while runs alongside Catfish Creek. Rock outcroppings rise in a forest of amber-leaved white and river birch forested areas. The white birch’s chalky trunks are striking against the autumn leaf hues. From U.S. Hwy. 61 in Dubuque, exit east onto South Grandview Avenue then turn right/south onto Julien Dubuque Drive. Go right/south onto Mar Jo Hills Access Road; following it straight takes you onto Mines of Spain Road. Cross the railroad tracks and park at the first lot.

Wisconsin

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 russett 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.

Vernon County
Hikers can step back in time and walk through the woods as in the days of old at Wildcat Mountain State Park. The rugged 2.5-mile Old Settlers’ Trail includes 390-feet of elevation change as heading through a forest of sugar maple, basswood and oak, all very colorful in autumn. An additional 0.8-mile round trip spur goes to the Taylor Hollow Overlook, which offers a fantastic view of the village of Ontario in the coulee below. From Westby, take Wis. Hwy. 27 north. In Cashton, turn right/east onto Wis. Hwy. 33. Once in the park, go left/east past the park office and at the split turn left/northwest to the Upper Picnic Area. Park there; a connector trail goes north to the Old Settlers’ Trail.

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.

Bluff offers great autumn view of Mississippi

The top of Mount Charity delivers on autumn views.

A beautiful view of the Mississippi River resplendent in fall colors awaits each autumn at John A. Latsch State Park.

The 1-mile round trip Riverview Trail heads to the top of Mount Charity, a bluff alongside Ol’ Man River. The trail consists

of nearly 600 steps that head up a deep ravine in the bluff.

To reach the trailhead, from Winona take U.S. Hwy. 61 north. In about 10 miles, turn left/southwest into the park. There’s no entry fee, and the parking lot is wedged between the highway and the bluff. The trail heads south from the lot.

Mount Charity
During the autumn, the bluffside brims with color: the yellows of birch, ironwood, black walnut, and elm; the oranges and scarlets of oaks; the golds, oranges and reds of maples; and the olive of basswood. Evergreen cedar accents the harvest hues.

Mount Charity is one of three rocky bluffs in the area that rise above 500 feet. During the 1850s, steamboat captains relied on them to navigate the Mississippi. They named the bluffs Faith, Hope, and Charity.

In addition to being charitable with autumn colors, the bluffland is rich in wildlife, some of which you’ll be able to see now that summer’s green foliage has thinned. Among the mammals are coyote, fox, opossum, squirrels, raccoons, and white-tailed deer. Peregrine falcons and bald eagles grace the skies, though you’ll have the best chance of seeing them once you reach the blufftop.

In large part, the bluff was simply too steep for development, so was saved for the Driftless Area’s wildlife. Thank park namesake John A. Latsch, a local businessman, for ensuring it was open to the public. In 1925, he purchased the bluff and persuaded an adjacent landowner to donate with him about 350 acres to the state for a park. Latsch was fairly familiar with the the three bluffs, as he often fished the river below them. A few years later, he also donated land that became Perrot State Park, downriver in neighboring Wisconsin. The Minnesota park has since expanded and now totals 450 acres.

There are a couple of lookout points along the way where you can rest. The step’s rise does range from five inches to a foot, so be sure to watch your step.

At Mount Charity’s top, hikers are treated to an impressive view of the river below, a blue ribbon through a landscape wrapped in gold leaves. Harvest hues fill the bluffsides on both sides of the river. Lock and Dam No. 5 can be see to the southeast with barges lazily making their last trips of the season through it.

Floodplain gold
At this spot on the Mississippi, almost all of the floodplain sits on the Wisconsin side. Green ash, silver maple, and river birch dominate the sloughs and river valley. All turn similar hues of yellow in autumn.

Green ash is among the first trees to change colors in autumn, often the first week of September. A common ash species, it quickly takes over old fields and other disturbed sites. It grows up to 82 feet high with a trunk diameter of up to 24 inches. Young green ash has smooth bark, but it becomes thick and fissured with age. A major concern for green ash is the emerald ash borer, an invasive species. Minnesota’s green ash has no protection against it.

Silver maple is one of the most common trees in the United States but not found in the west-central part of Minnesota. Highly adaptable, it often can be spotted along waterways and in wetlands. The silver maple also is fast-growing; a 10-year-old sapling can stand up to 26 feet high, making it the best bet for future NFL lineman in the woods. It tops out, though, at 82 feet. It used to be a favorite in urban landscaping, but because its roots crack sidewalks and old pipes, as well as because it resprouts quickly, many cities now ban its planting.

River birch, also known as black birch or water birch, usually grows in floodplains and wetlands. It can reach a height of 100 feet. The base of the river birch usually consists of several slender trunks, each of which can grow up to 60 inches in diameter. The bark of young river birch consists of loose layers of curling scales and often looks as if it has been damaged, but that’s not the case. As the tree matures, those scales form hard plates.

After taking in the views, return the way you came; a path does briefly lead away from the blufftop into the woods, but it quickly dissolves into a deer trail with little to see. If children are with you, make sure they stay away from the edges at the blufftop.

Riverview Trail map. Click for larger version.

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.

Variety of great sights await at Frontenac SP

The bluff at Frontenac State Park offers a majestic view of Lake Pepin.
Photo courtesy of Minnesota DNR.

Frontenac State Park trail map.
Click for larger version.
Map courtesy of MNDNR.

Impressive views of scenic Lake Pepin, a rare limestone arch, and prairieland await hikers at Minnesota’s Frontenac State Park.

To reach the park, from Red Wing, Minn., take U.S. Hwy 61 south. In Frontenac Station, turn left/northeast onto County Road 2 and follow the road into the park.

Some of the park’s must-do trails include:
• Bluff Side Loop Trail – Hikers can traverse the top and the base of a bluff looming 430 feet above Lake Pepin and see a natural limestone arch, a rare sight in the Midwest, along the way. The 2.6-mile trail offers impressive views as it heads up and down the steep bluff with a series of wooden stairs and switchbacks. Yan Teopa Rock, one of Minnesota’s few arches, is nearly halfway through the hike.
• Eagle Point Trail – Made up of a few shorter linked trails (this is not an official trail on state park maps), the route heads to Eagle Point, which offers a great view of Lake Pepin and the historic Old Frontenac village to the east. The hike runs 2.2-miles round trip from trail intersection F to L to K to J and then to the point.
• Hiking Club Trail – A collection of small connecting trails, this route serves as a sampler plate of Frontenac’s best sights, including Lake Pepin views, hardwood forest, prairie, and steps up and down small portions of the bluff. The trail is a 2.6-miles loop and marked in yellow on park maps.
• Pine Loop Trail – The 0.5-miles loop overlooks Old Frontenac and Lake Pepin has heading through an old pine plantation. It must be reached by taking a set of other unnamed trails from Trail Intersection F to H to M for a 1.3-miles round trip.
• Prairie Loop Trail – A mowed trail heads through prairie grasses and wildflowers common to the Great Plains and then alongside the north shore of Pleasant Valley Lakelet. The 3-miles round trip hike includes a short spur to a wildlife observation blind on Wells Creek that is excellent for observing migrating birds.
• Riverview Trail – Hikers can explore the blufftop woodlands without ever being far from civilization on this 0.8-miles one-way trail. Paved and wheelchair accessible, it also boasts three fantastic overlooks of Lake Pepin.
• Sand Point Trail – You can take in a great view of Lake Pepin and maybe glimpse a sea monster while doing so on the Sand Point. Reports of Pepie – as the monster locally has come to be known – date to before pioneer times and have occurred as recently as a couple of years ago. The 1.4-mile round trip trail leads to the lake’s shore while heading through a swampy area perfect for creatures of the deep to hide.
• Self-guided Interpretive Trail – The 0.7-mile loop heads from an overlook of Lake Pepin to partway down the bluff through a limestone rock quarry from the 1880s. Though steep with stairs and some gravel surfaces, the route offers awesome views of the blufflands and the lake the entire way. It is marked green on state park maps.
• Sliding Hill Trail – You can enjoy a walk through a meadow to a hilltop with a view on this 0.6-miles round trip trail. The Sliding Hill Trail (not its official name but used here for convenience’s sake) is an easy walk near the park’s entry. While most come to the state park for the views of Lake Pepin, this trail offers glimpses of what lies just a few miles west of the hilly Mississippi River Valley, where a flat prairie stretches to South Dakota.
• Trail Intersection Z Loop – The easy 0.4-miles loop runs through a small woodlands at the bottom of a bluff off of Hwy. 61. Park in the lot for the Sand Point Trail trailhead and from the gravel end of County Road 2 carefully cross the highway to the loop.
• Villa Marie Trail – The 0.7-miles loop is a side trail off the Prairie Loop Trail that heads through more prairie and alongside a small wooded area. Take a segment of the Prairie loop starting at trail intersection T to the Villa Marie for a 2.3-miles round trip lollipop trail.

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

Eagle center, riverwalk await in Minn. town

Chief Wapasha III statue on Mississippi Riverwalk
in Wabasha, Minn.

Mississippi Riverwalk map

Hikers can learn all about bald eagles and explore an urban stretch of Ol’ Man River on the Mississippi River in Wabasha, Minnesota.

The 0.8-miles round trip walk is easy, educational and scenic. You may even want to bring along a picnic basket.

To reach the riverwalk, park in downtown Wabasha. Finding a spot on Big Jo Alley near Pembroke Avenue is best, as the National Eagle Center is at the corner of those two streets.

Make the center your start point. It offers two floors of interactive exhibits about bald and golden eagles and every day offers a variety of programs featuring live eagles. Among the exhibits are a life-size replica of an eagle’s nest and an opportunity to see the world as if you had an eagle’s eyesight.

The stretch between Wabasha and Red Wing on Lake Pepin is an eagle lover’s paradise. Every winter, hundreds of migrating bald eagles nest there because the current from the Chippewa River keeps the Mississippi River open. This offers ample opportunities for eagles to catch and dine on fish, one of their favorite menu items.

Bald eagles are impressive raptors with an average wingspan of 6 to 7.5 feet. They have incredible vision and can see an object as small as a rabbit up to three miles away. To catch their prey, they can fly up to 30 mph and dive at 100 mph.

After taking in the center’s sights, head north on Pembroke Avenue. In the circular area jutting into the river is a statue honoring the city’s namesake, Chief Wapasha III. The head of the Mdewakanton (Dakota Sioux), Wapasha signed treaties in 1851 and 1858 that ceded southern Minnesota to the United States. His band moved to a reservation on the Minnesota River and then the Crow Creek Reservation in the Dakotas.

The oldest continuous city in Minnesota, Wabasha boasts 50 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. Mark Twain described it as the “City of the Healing Waters.”

From there, head northwest behind the National Eagle Center and onto the riverwalk. Here the Mississippi River narrows. The opposite shoreline are bottomlands, created as sediment brought downhill from the Chippewa River pile up in the Mississippi’s main channel. These bottomlands effectively mark the end Lake Pepin as they squeeze the Mississippi’s channel just north of Wabasha. The bottomlands are larger than the city itself.

Past the eagle center’s backside, the riverwalk passes a small park that often hosts fun children’s activities for the city’s annual harvest festival, a multiweek event that runs each September and October. A few small boat slips follow the park.

Next the riverwalk crosses under the Wabasha-Nelson bridge connecting the city with Wisconsin. The 2462-foot bridge rises six stories over the Mississippi River. It opened in 1988, replacing a 1931 bridge that included two right angles on the Minnesota side and was narrow by modern standards.

Upon reaching the bridge, the riverwalk officially ends, but you can extend your walk by continuing onto little-used Lawrence Boulevard. In short order, a small beach appears along the river, and stone steps lead from the street to the sand.

The beach can be taken past a few more small boat slips. After passing under the powerlines, you arrive at Beach Park, which has picnic tables (remember that picnic basket!), playground and a gazebo on a small point where a back channel of the Mississippi River flows off the main channel.

After playing and resting at the park, retrace your steps back to your vehicle.

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

Hike across Mississippi River’s headwaters

Mississippi River headwaters at Lake Itasca, courtesy of Wikipedia.

Map of Headwaters Loop trail, courtesy of Minnesota DNR.

Short loop heads
to river's source
in Minnesota

Day hikers can explore the headwaters of the mighty Mississippi River at Minnesota’s Itasca State Park.

In fact, you can literally walk across the river on the 0.25-miles Headwaters Loop Trail. In fact, at the headwaters where the Mississippi begins, if you’re in shorts and willing to take off your shoes, you also can wade across the river. It’s only a couple of feet deep there.

The trail sits in Minnesota’s oldest state park. Established in 1891, it covers about 32,500 acres and contains a hundred lakes. Last year, more than half a million people visited the state park – outperforming 25 national parks in attendance.

Stepping stones
To reach the trailhead, from Park Rapids, Minn., take U.S. Hwy. 71 north. Upon reaching the state park, go left/north on Minn. Hwy. 200. Turn left/south onto County Road 122. Go right/west onto County Road 117, where you'll cross a bridge over the Mississippi River, which looks more like a creek at this point in its course. After the county road veers south, turn left/east into the Mississippi Headwaters Visitor Park and park your vehicle. Enter the Mary Gibbs Mississippi Headwaters Interpretive Center; the trail leaves from its southern side.

Initially, the trail heads through a wooded area thick with pines. After passing a junction for the Schoolcraft Trail, which heads along Lake Itasca’s western shores, you’ll walk a footbridge that crosses the Mississippi.

The trail continues to the headwaters, where there’s a small beach, with a monument announcing the headwaters, and the shores of vast Lake Itasca.

You actually can walk across the headwaters over rocks that separate the lake from the river. From those rocks, the Mississippi River flows for 2552 miles – the longest in North America and fourth longest in the world – before spilling into the Gulf of Mexico. Water from 31 states and two Canadian provinces makes its way into the Mississippi.

Surprises
The river flows out of Lake Itasca, a strangely-shaped lake with three arms. The lake covers a surface area of 1.8 square miles with an average depth of 20-35 feet. In late summer, it can turn green thanks to algae blooms.

For many years, the source of the Mississippi River remained a great mystery to Europeans and early Americans. Then in 1832, the Anishinabe guide Ozawindib led explorer Henry Rowe Schoolcraft to the river’s source.

Visitors to the headwaters will be in for a couple of surprises. First, the Mississippi is a pristine blue here. It hasn’t yet picked up the sediment that makes it brown and muddy once it becomes a boundary between states. Secondly, the river travels north. Rather than come out of the lake’s south side and flow in that direction, as it does for most of its course, the river meanders north until eventually veering west then southeast.

The trail continues from the beach by heading west. Another footbridge crosses the Mississippi again; from there, it returns to the interpretive center. Be sure to check out the displays under a portico there.

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

Retrace steps of Indian maiden’s lover’s leap

Lake Pepin from atop Maiden Rock Bluff.

Maiden Rock Bluff Trail topo map. Click for larger version.

Romantic views
of Lake Pepin
await day hikers

Day hikers can explore the bluff from which a forlorn Indian princess allegedly leaped to her death rather than marry a man she didn’t love.

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.

To reach the trail, from Stockholm, Wis., 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.

Returning to prairie
As a state natural area, facilities and upkeep here are nil. You’ll want to wear hiking boots with socks that go mid-calf to hike along the unmowed trail.

At one time, the blufftop was a farmer’s field, but it since has been allowed to return to a prairie. You’ll find a number of black-eyed susans and some bluestem in the meadow. A variety of butterfly species flit between blossoming wildlflowers.

The trail skirts a wooded area before turning west and running through the meadow. As nearing the treeline, you’ll likely spot bald eagles circling about on the bluff’s thermals.

Next the trail jags south then closes on a line of old oak trees through which you can see Lake Pepin below. The lake is the largest on the Mississippi River, running 21 miles long and nearly 2 miles wide. Be careful of getting too close to the trees, however as the bluff makes a sharp vertical drop immediately beyond them.

Legend of Maiden Rock
That long drop created the perfect setting of an old Indian legend that made the bluff famous.

In love with a warrior from her band, Princess Winona, daughter of Chief Red Wing, refused to marry another brave that her father had selected for her. For a while, she seemed to acquiesce to her parents’ wishes and on the appointed day headed with the wedding party to here, the most prominent bluff in the region. Once they reached the top, though, she dashed to the edge and jumped off in a lover’s leap, to drown in Lake Pepin below rather than marry a man she did not love. Mark Twain brought the story national attention when he included it in his book, “Life on the Mississippi.”

The legend probably is apocryphal. The Sioux didn’t have “princesses,” and if she did jump, she likely wouldn’t have landed in the lake itself but the rocks below. In any case, there are several variations of the story among the Dakota Sioux…and several more variations among many other Native American tribes up and down the Mississippi as well in the eastern United States.

What can’t be denied is that the view of Lake Pepin from the blufftop is incredibly gorgeous and romantic. Sunlight sparkles off the blue lake, as if diamonds had been tossed across a turquoise cloth.

Once the meadow ends, the trail enters a small woods and parallels the bluff’s edge. The best views of Lake Pepin actually lay about 500 feet into the woods. An autumn day after a freeze marks the best time to enter the woods, as poison ivy lines the path in summer.

Timber rattler
An alternate trailhead at the parking lot heads directly east through a small woods to the same vista. Unfortunately, that path also is very narrow and infested with poison ivy, making the longer meadow route the preferred one.

Of course, no love story would be complete without a little sin, and in the case of Maiden Rock Bluff, that comes in the form of a serpent. Timber rattlesnakes are common on blufftop prairies and woodlands, so watch your step. By hiking (and staying on) the trail midday in summer, you’re almost certain to never see one, as they remain inactive until night. During spring and autumn, however, they can be out during the day.

The timber rattlesnake is tan colored with distinctive brown bars. Adults can measure up to four feet in length. They are poisonous, so be aware of how to avoid and treat for snake bites.

After taking in your views of Lake Pepin, retrace your steps back to the parking lot.

Find out about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.