Like our earlier piece on fall color, this post will be long on photos and short on text!
One of our favorite things to do on a cold winter day is to visit some of our favorite spots along the Mississippi. As the ice slowly freezes, the bald eagles that range along the river bluffs finally move south. The ice isn’t quite thick enough for fishing huts like the ones which will pop up on nearby lakes soon. But the cold, clear air and the striking blues of sky, ice and river make places that are usually filled with people look pristine.
The Mississippi River as view from Grant River Recreation areaMississippi River viewed from Potosi Point
A beaver dam as seen from Potosi Point
Of course, it’s really not as pristine as all that… you can find plenty of beaver dams, occasional deer running into the woods, and a few remaining waterfowl. But what I love the most is the deep blues of the water as it freezes.
These photos were all taken between (or in) the Grant River Recreation Area and Potosi Point.
A few remaining geese coming in for landing….
… and they’ve landed!
The road out onto Potosi PointWho says you can’t take pictures into the sun?
The Soo Line Railway (a subsidiary line of the Canadian Pacific) running along the Wisconsin shore. It crosses over from La Crescent, Minnesota up at La Crosse.
Looking north from Potosi PointOne last look south from the Point before I head home.
One of our favorite fall activities is just driving around the Driftless Region and looking at fall color. This week’s post will be long on photos and short on text! If you’d like some suggested routes, scroll to the end.
Fall color on one of the trails at Pike’s Peak State Park in IowaOverlooking the Wisconsin River from the camping area Wyalusing State ParkGeese at Yellowstone State Park in Wisconsin. This Lutheran church in Wiota, Wisconsin is the oldest Lutheran church is the United States. (Yes, we’re shamelessly using it as a backdrop for fall color pictures.)The historic Mitchell-Rountree Stone Cottage in Platteville, Wisconsin. Look for an article on it this spring!A frequent fall site along country roads. We’re traveling between Platteville and Livingston in this case.Driving north towards the Wisconsin River. A shout out to our tour guides, Dick and Laurie Graney!Fall color drives are an easy way to “discover” picturesque old barns like this one near Sauk CityThe drive past Blue Mound towards Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesen near Spring Green will take you through some of the best valleys for fall color viewing.
Behind Platteville’s Mining and Rollo Jamison Museums. (Check out Mary Franklin’s article on this from last fall!)
Pumpkins for sale somewhere along the road to Sauk City
Cresting one of the many hills in the Driftless Region: in this case near South Wayne, Wisconsin. We’re playing around with photo saturation levels, as you can probably tell.Hyde’s Mill near Ridgeway. (We have an article on Hyde’s Mill coming out tomorrow!)The hills around Baraboo make for beautiful fall color drivingThis is a wonderful time of year to hike the Platteville Mound! Thanks for the pic, Monica Nordgren.
Just another beautiful tree.
Sometimes its easy to just get lost in the beauty of the leaves!
We did say we’d share some of our favorite fall color drives. Here are our top five:
This first one is only for serious hikers! If you love to hike, you to Effigy Mounds National Monument near Harper’s Ferry. Iowa, and take any or all of the north trails. Each one ends with a stunning Mississippi River overlook.
If you’d rather sit on a boat, take the Cassville Ferry. You can board in Iowa or Wisconsin, and it connects two national scenic byways. (Trouble is, the ferry ends its season at about this same time, but they usually end with a fall cruise. Check the above link for more information.) If the ferry is closed, then just try the road to it: U.S. 52 drom Dubuque IA north through Balltown (home of the oldest restaurant in Iowa, Breitbach’s) and on to Buena Vista.
Take any drive along the Mississippi Bluffs! You could drive out to Potosi Point then drive north up the Mississippi to Glen Haven, Wisconsin; you could drive north from Prairie du Chien towards LaCrosse on Wisconsin 35; you could even cross over the Mississippi at LaCrosse (ha, ha) and drive north on US 61 into the gorgeous Minnesota Blufflands! If you do, be sure to go as far north as the “island city” of Winona and drive up to the Garvin Heights overlook.
If you’re in Illinois, you can head south from Galena down Blackjack Road towards Savannah, or east on US 20, stopping at Horseshoe Mound Preserve and Tapley Woods Conservation area. Be sure to stop at the rest area just after Tapley Woods– the views from there are some of the best in Illinois. Also, you might google “Stagecoach Trail,” in northern Illinois, which is nearby and also has wonderful views.
Two state parks that are particularly beautiful during fall leave change time are Wyalusing State Park in Wisconsin and Pike’s Peak State Park in Iowa… both are pictured above. Yellowstone State Park in Wisconsin is beautiful, too, and also pictured above.
If you aren’t driving along the Mississippi or Wisconsin rivers, then probably the most gorgeous drive inland on Wisconsin 23 north of Dodgeville heading towards Spring Green. That will also take you past Frank Lloyd Wright’s Talieson and near American Player’s Theater… both sights were chosen for their natural beauty, and in our opinion the fall is when they’re most beautiful.
Unless noted, all photos by Terry Burns
Tell us about your favorite place in the Driftless Region!
If you’re already taking a trip to Potosi, maybe to the Potosi Brewery as written about in our last article, why not keep going and drive out on to the Mississippi? I mean that literally: Potosi Point, one of my favorite places to go for some beautiful views, peace, and quiet, is less than a mile outside of town.
The Mississippi River shoreline as viewed from Potosi point in mid-November. Photo by Terry Burns.
How do you get there from the Potosi main drag?
Just keep driving down South Main Street, and the road will literally take you out to a boat launch on the Mississippi. The trick is, you have to take a little jog in the road as it goes out of town.
Cross the railroad,
go under the culvert,
and drive straight out!
You’ll see some railroad tracks running along the river, and need to take a left off of State Road 133 (which was the same as Main Street, but now separates off to the north.) Drive under a little culvert, which as you can see from the photo sometimes gets flooded) and be careful to watch for water. On the other side of the culvert, you’ll be on road that runs right out into the river.
You won’t have to search very hard to see wildlife ranging from cranes waiting for dinner or beavers building dams.
By late fall, beavers will be building dams on either side of the road. It’s also a good place to view cranes and other sea birds.
If you follow the road to the end, you’ll be at a little boat launch and viewing spot in the Upper Mississippi Wildlife Preserve called Potosi Point.
At the end of the road, you’ll be several hundred yards out into the Mississippi, near the main channel.
That’s all there is to it. Oh, and if you want some shade or forgot binoculars, there’s a nice little viewing pavillion where you can look downstream. Enjoy your trip!
Viewing pavilion faces downstream, the earlier photos faced upstream.
Greetings, Driftless readers! As we wind towards the end of fall, I thought I’d publish a few more stories on fall sports, just to give us something to look back on during the cold winter!
Thanks to local writer Adam Smith for his excellent article on rugby. On tap, we have two more stories focusing on fall sports: Samantha Graetz, writing on UW-Platteville Pioneer football, Grace Daehling (an excellent sports photographer, whose photos also appear in Sam Graetz’s piece).
After that, we’re going to move on to another favorite Driftless area recreation: beer!
